Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

Come in, relax, play with your friends! You can find something for everybody here. You can even find threads with no particular point at all, other than a good time! You can even start up some role playing.
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Galahad
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Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#1

Post by Galahad »

This is a companion thread to the [ MAIN ROLEPLAY ] thread. This thread's purpose is to facilitate any discussion, remarks, suggestions and commentary from people not participating in the roleplay. Hence, if you have something you wish to say about our roleplay, please post it here. Any out-of-character commentary in the roleplaying thread itself is strictly prohibited, by order of me, according to roleplay guideline (3). ;) A special thank you to Faanvolla and Valerion for suggesting this.

If you have anything you wish to share, we would love to hear from you. :)
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#2

Post by TheOldWolf »

What could possibly go wrong when you shove three (potentially) introverted things into a story line and say "GO!". At worst they'll just hang around lamely...
I have high hopes for this!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#3

Post by Trace »

Yeah, hopefully there won't be too much initial awkwardness... :P It'll probably work out once things get moving. But I agree, I think this could go really well. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#4

Post by Galahad »

I must confess-- ♪THAT I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER♪
Sorry. Could not resist.

I must confess that I am not entirely surprised at the excess of introverted characters. Characters tend to reflect certain traits of their creators. ;) Once they overcome their initial awkwardness, as Trace said, I am quite certain their "deeper" personalities will emerge, which are quite different.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#5

Post by Trace »

Galahad wrote:I must confess-- ♪THAT I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER♪
Sorry. Could not resist.

I must confess that I am not entirely surprised at the excess of introverted characters. Characters tend to reflect certain traits of their creators. ;) Once they overcome their initial awkwardness, as Trace said, I am quite certain their "deeper" personalities will emerge, which are quite different.
"The secret side of me
I never let you see
I keep it caged, but I can't control it..."
I like that song. :P
Yeah, I'd agree that characters reflecting their creators is entirely normal. And I think you're right. As our characters get some more development and interaction, their differences will likely become apparent.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#6

Post by TheOldWolf »

Theodore is literally me personality wise xD I likes to accentuate parts of my personality when it comes to characters. Theodore will be my introvert side. Feldspar (a long term reoccurring DnD character) is my wild-child side.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#7

Post by Galahad »

Technically, Vox is still a participant. Due to time constraints, his vote was forfeited. If he does not post a character biography in time, then the roleplay will begin without him. However, he can still create a bio and join at any point until a certain amount of time has elapsed (say, a week or two since the roleplay begins). Thereafter, his spot as participant can be given to someone else.

I will permit anyone to create an NPC, provided there are not too many being made and they are not directing the plot. As I said, my role as GM is to ensure guidelines governing logistics, posting order, etiquette (e.g no god-moding) and posting frequency are being followed and to ensure a rough plot is being followed. Outside of that, I allow a relative free rein. If I do see a unique problem arise, I will address it ad hoc.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#8

Post by Trace »

I really like the characters that we have posted thus far. I would say that we actually have a fair bit of diversity, certainly when it comes to roles/classes and species. Hopefully others might consider joining in the future, but I think that for now this seems like a pretty solid group.
I can't wait to get started!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#9

Post by Trace »

Glad you could join us, Vox!
With that, I believe we have our full complement, at least for the time being.
Let's get this show on the road!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#10

Post by Vox »

Thanks, I can't wait to see how this goes ^^
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#11

Post by Galahad »

The first official roleplay post will be up today. ;)
And welcome back, Vox.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#12

Post by TheOldWolf »

Cyn might be joking but I ain't.
Galahad. Poke. Poke.
I wanna play! Poke.

You're making a pup out of me with excitement!

To say I'm eager is an understatement. xD
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#13

Post by Galahad »

Patience is a virtue.
I said "today", and I do believe it is still the same day. ;) It will come.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#14

Post by TheOldWolf »

You have me at great loss Mr Raptor D:
Fear not though, for I shall respond in a manner that (I hope) is fitting of a grandiose story!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#15

Post by Galahad »

Oh dear. Was my post a little overbearing or underwhelming? =/
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#16

Post by TheOldWolf »

Quite the opposite actually. Overwhelming.
I personally struggle to start roleplays (okay this is my first of this caliber), but I am used to DnD.

So many questions, so many unknowns, so much anxiety to address! So much of me being unsure what to do! Wheeee!
Ahhh I'm excited!

I've written a thing, and I will post it as soon as I have access to my PC!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#17

Post by Trace »

I'm really excited by what's been posted thus far. Well done! I think this is going to be pretty great.
In an effort to keep the ball rolling, I'm going to attempt to post something very shortly, despite my current state of sleep deprivation. Graduation and (funnily enough) a D&D session makes for a long and busy day...
As two different tenses have been used thus far, I am going to default to my usual use of past tense in my writing.
I will have to pose a question or two about character interaction in the future in this thread, but for now I will just try to finish an introduction and then get to sleep...
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#18

Post by Galahad »

There is no rush, Trace. :) Please, go sleep. You can respond later.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#19

Post by Trace »

Galahad wrote:There is no rush, Trace. :) Please, go sleep. You can respond later.
Hahaha, too late. :P
Hopefully I was able to make enough sense in spite of being tired.
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#20

Post by Galahad »

Trace, you diligent rebel, you. ;) For someone sleep-deprived, you still write excellently.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#21

Post by TheOldWolf »

Holy cow it's amazing! Galahad is quite right, Trace - you are a diligent rebel indeed. AHH I'm excited!
Although I do agree with Mr Cyn (who does me great honour, my thanks.) I felt my introduction was too short. However that's do be expected - introductions are usually short and awkward.

Do I get to poke Leeward and Vox now? :D
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#22

Post by Leeward »

Busy writing.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#23

Post by Vox »

Somewhat of a small addition, but i was wandering in this sci-fi setting are cybernetics allowed? I was thinking perhaps a prosthetic arm, not like kitted out or anything, just something to add character.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#24

Post by Galahad »

Of course, Vox. :) You may customize your character as you wish, as long as it is not giving him/her too much power or just rendering him/her unplayable without abusing common sense. (For example, a super-powerful demi-god who is so handsome he instantly seduces everyone... that would be unreasonable.)
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#25

Post by Galahad »

Lee, git gud with class selection, you noob. Two engineers? :P The town ain't big enough for the two of us.

Just kidding. ;) I think the two might just make a fantastic team.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#26

Post by Trace »

Thank you for your kind words, all. I'm glad to know that you've enjoyed what I've written thus far.
So before our characters begin to meet up, I wanted to ask a bit about how character interaction is going to work, particularly when it comes to dialogue. As there are five of us and we seem to be mostly planning to go in a linear sequence, I can imagine that it might be difficult for, say, two characters to hold a conversation. How do we want to go about addressing this?
As I am somewhat unfamiliar with text-based roleplaying, I imagine that there are likely ways to go about this that I might be missing. If there is a typical agreed-upon method or one that we have in mind, I would appreciate knowing what it is. Otherwise, I could give some suggestions on how I could see character interactions working.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#27

Post by Galahad »

That is an excellent question.

To be frank: we have too many players. For intimate text roleplays such as this, two to three players tends to be ideal. I am sorry for not limiting it sooner.
However, it is okay. It is not impossible to roleplay, but it becomes necessary for us to roleplay more smartly and to avoid creating problems.

The greatest problem with five players simultaneously is time paradoxes: for example, character B might respond to something character A said two posts back, but that conversation has ended because something else has happened. Character C then replies to character B's response, thus continuing a conversation that actually ended and creating two separate timelines.

What I would recommend is that the game master- in this case, me - assumes full control of the environment and world events (i.e what is happening around the characters - much like in Dungeons and Dragons) when all the characters are together. In contrast, when some characters are separate from the group, their owners can dictate what happens where they are (as is happening right now in the roleplay).
This means that when the characters are all together, players (aside from the game master) can only control how their characters react; thus being more passive in relation to the universe. This prevents a player from bringing about a change in scenery or circumstance while a meaningful interaction (such as a conversation) is taking place, possibly creating a time paradox or just making the roleplay unenjoyable because someone keeps making something happen.

If a discussion or conversation involving all the characters (a group interaction) is occurring, I will allow shorter, quicker replies to be posted.

However, I do not want to get too technical and create a whole system of rules that just becomes a bother to memorize and follow.

My advice is this: Aside from the rule I created above (game master assuming full control of the "world" when the characters are together) Just use your common sense. Do not create problems, as far as it is possible - for example, do not have your character respond to something that is already over and that would result in a paradox. Try to synchronize with others as much as possible, and do not interrupt unnecessarily. As another example: if two characters are having a conversation, I might have my character strike up a conversation with another one; this allows time to proceed smoothly, because player A will be responding to player B and player C will be respond to player D as time goes linearly.

So, put simply: Roleplay smartly.

I will be watching each post closely. If I see a problem, I will notify everyone, and then advise that poster on how to correct. To speed this up, perhaps we can create a Telegram group for this purpose, rather than relying on PM?

With five players, I think it relies far more on the players and the game master being flexible and intelligent about their character interactions, than it is having an inconveniently large and complex system of rules.

So, just keep writing. If a problem arises, we will address it ad hoc - in that specific context, at that specific time, rather than having a rule beforehand.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#28

Post by Galahad »

That is how it works in Dungeons and Dragons, a format with which they are familiar: the dungeon master decides the fate of the characters, such as what monsters they face and what they encounter.

Besides, this is not an act of arbitrary dictatorship. It is trying to make things run as smoothly as possible.

I have sent a PM to each of the roleplayers asking for their input on this. Let's see if we can reach a solution that works for everyone.

To those involved: I am sorry for not foreseeing that five players would be too many.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#29

Post by Trace »

No need to apologize, good sir raptor.
I am hoping that we might be able to find a solution that will allow for all of us to proceed. Granted that might take some work, but I feel that it could potentially be worth it.
I could see us possibly continuing as you suggested above, but will present a couple of ideas I had. Less ideal is proceeding exactly as we have already (due to potential time paradoxes, as mentioned), blocking off users when conversations are going on (agreed, this would be severely limiting and slow things waaaay down), or allowing the control of other players' characters, aside from some GM intervention (too much of this would defeat the purpose of roleplaying).
I think the best solution might be as you briefly mentioned above: having an outside means of allowing conversations. I thought about the possibility of individuals contacting each other to have character conversations and then posting the results, but agree that a group chat likely presents a more ideal solution. Once a conversation has concluded or things have moved on some, the entirety of the conversation could then be posted by a single player, who would perhaps be allowed to add some flavor to the conversation and allow it to flow better.
One could argue "then why not just hold the RP on Telegram in the first place?", but I would respond that I do not want to leave the forum in the dark. Ultimately, I personally would like to see the forum thread as a platform for telling a story.
All of this does mean more work for everyone involved, but I think that it could leave us with a much more potentially awesome and hopefully even meaningful end result.
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Re: Galahad's Roleplay - Discussion & Commentary

#30

Post by Trace »

Maybe I did not clarify enough on what I meant... I am hoping that even if we go with my suggestion, we will be able to keep you and anyone else on the forum not directly involved who wants to view the RP still able to do so.
A separate means of communication might mean not posting everything here right away, but hopefully it won't be too long afterwards that the end result of interactions/conversations are posted here so that everyone can see them.
Let me know if I'm still not making sense and I will try to figure something out.
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