Greetings from the shack that is the RPGN Headquarters. In these scary times in the lead up to Halloween it isn’t always wise to be alone. Thankfully that is no longer the case for me, and I wish to thank those who have joined the RPGN team and all those who have offered their love and support. Particularly I’d like to thank @RomanAria for returning to RPGN in order to act as bait for the Spectres of RPGN past should they come looking for me again.
As always we’re always happy to take ideas and suggestions, or if anyone wants to offer help it’d be appreciated. If you want to offer your services, ask questions or just offer moral support you can send a PM to @RPGN, @Sep or join our Official RPGN Discord chat.
Before you get to the rest of the publication I’ll make note that under each heading there is a by-line to show you who worked on each section so that proper credit is given.
By @Vietmyke The reason most of you are here! Let's see what the all seeing, all knowing Vietmyke has for us this time?
Up and Coming!
Interest checks are often the first stage in recruiting players for an RP, and a really good one can net you a lot of applicants.This week, we’re going to highlight some of the best looking interest checks that caught our eye. Best of all, they're looking for players!
Casual Interest Check
Fantasy Seven by @Holy Soldier - A fantastical RP based on the Seven Deadly Sins, Fantasy Seven is a well written interest check with a classic fantasy feel hopefully featuring a diverse cast of characters.
Advanced Interest Check
Kingdom Death by @Dead Cruiser - A dark fantasy based on the tabletop game "Kingdom Death: Monster", Kingdom Death is a RP that takes survival-horror to new level, and players can expect influences from games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne to be present.
Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath by @Ellri, @sundered Echo, and @fallenreaper - you know something big is planned when an RP has three full GMs. With this RP, you can expect an intense, tale of Jedi and Sith in epic clashes and in depth character development. With three veteran GMs at the head, we can see this going far.
Nation Interest Check
The Stars Ablaze by @Fallen Muse - a Warhammer 40k RP? Oh baby yes. We're all about the dark fantasy this week in the interest checks, and Warhammer 40k is a beloved dark fantasy to many a user. Prepare your bodies, because this looks to be an intense Nation RP of epic proportions.
Cool and Current
Sometimes Roleplays do something special that needs to get them recognized. If you yourself know of such an RP send it in to RPGN or to Vietmyke.. It maybe just passed a certain milestone, or something dead awesome just happened. Let us know.
Free Roleplay
Experimental Army by @KatherinWinter - A Teen-Superpower RP meets Suicide Squad, Experimental Army is exactly what you'd expect when you give juvenile delinquents superpowers and throw them in a basement together, and that's perfectly okay with me.
Casual Roleplays
Divided We Stand by @HushedWhispers - A super-powered high school RP with a novel twist. With a school that serves to teach both superheroes and supervillains, it sounds like just the type of mess I'd like to get into. With a tight knit community going strong for some 5 months and counting, you can expect collabs galore and a diverse cast of characters to get taken with.
Outcasts of Fortune by @Dynamo Frokane - with Military and Mecha RPs being my bread and butter, you can't really blame me for being drawn to this. Outcasts seems exceptionally promising, and they're just getting ready to get themselves off the ground- making this the perfect time to join up.
Advanced Roleplay
The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention by @gcold - a week shy of its first birthday, Fruits of Contention, has a stunning cast of characters, a dedicated corps of GMs, and doesn't show any sign of letting up anytime soon.
Nation Roleplay
Formaroth: Battle for the Throne by @TheDuncanMorgan is an epic nation RP in the vein of Game of Thrones. If you're not about that, you should take a seat and re-evaluate your life choices- kidding of course. All jokes aside, this RP has been steadily making its way for well over a year now, and sports a core of talented writers.
Last weeks riddles were solved by @gcold and as such he has been sent an invitation to the RPGN ritual sacrifice of the person who got the answer right party that is going to be held in his honour. If someone wants to risk have fun with this party then all you have to do is get the answers right first.
Here are this week's riddles:
I am eternal, I am fleeting. I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere. People count me up, people count me down when you need me there is not enough but when you don’t there is too much. What am I?
I can bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face. I form in an instant and last for a lifetime, but I can be forgotten. What am I?
Maze
It's fall*, and fall means lots of pretty leaves everywhere. Which means lots of raking for everyone... and then, once you have a big pile of leaves, what do you do? Jump in it! *Editor's Note: For all you fellow non Americans 'fall' is Autumn. ~ Sep
Challenge RPGN
It’s no fun if we’re the ones who always give the challenges. So this is your chance to give the RPGN team a challenge, be it perform a certain feat in a specific game, write something, draw something or solve a puzzle put in your requests! The sooner the better and we’ll post the results in the next issue!
Same concept as ‘Question to RPGN’ the challenge with the most likes will be the one we do. You can either request a certain team member fulfill the challenge, the whole team or just ask for any one person to complete the challenge. Bear in mind when creating the tasks that we do have lives to live.
Let's keep things simple. What was your favourite RP moment ever, feel free to quote it if you know what thread it's in/where it is? Why was this moment so good? What makes it stick in your memory?
As the same with every issue we don’t just ask questions, we answer them in a way that forms a discussion by being put on the thread. While there is a question the floor I’d ask you all to also consider this question and what it means. This question was posed by @Ashevelendar:
What do you do when everyone hates one of your characters ( including yourself ) but he is crucial to the plot of the RP you are in and cannot be killed / removed ? :)
What do I do, it’s an important question. A lot of the time we try to make our characters relatable, often they’re heroes and we want people to like them. After all playing the protagonist is the best. So I’m going to take this two ways:
People hate the character for what he/she is: In this scenario people just hate the character. They’re evil, they are vile and an all around nasty person. They steal from the poor and kill the rich and really there’s no way in which they’re doing bad things for a good reason. They’re just full out evil. What do I do? I keep playing the character. I feel it’s great when you play a character that you absolutely despise, and that everyone else does. It’s just a fun dynamic, just accept that this is who the character is and have fun with it is all I can say. Having a character you genuinely hate rather than one you hate just because of the plot is so much more fun. People hate the character for what he/she is made as: This one’s a bit more difficult. Sometimes you make a character and you, or other people, genuinely aren’t happy with how the character turned out. Maybe the little voice in your head wasn’t quite speaking to you properly that day or something just seems off and it doesn’t feel right. In this situation I look at the character and see if there’s a defining characteristic that jumps out at me as ‘wrong’ or ‘off’. If there is I’ll try and change that, failing that just because a character starts important to the plot doesn’t mean they need to stay that way. New characters can be introduced or plot can be changed to work a way around a particular character being removed. My advice is that you need to be fluid enough to overcome barriers like this by changing the character or the plotline, as you never know what is going to happen.
I hope that this answers your question, if not just be like “Yo Dude, what up? I need more than this!”. What do you guys think? Anyone got some advice to help @Ashevelendar out?
If you’re reading this and have a question feel free to leave a reply to the thread, the question with the most ‘likes’ will be featured (So if you see a question you like give it a ‘like’). You can either address the question to @Sep or to @RPGN as a whole.
Being a Gamemaster (GM) is probably one of the most difficult things to do on the Guild, other than actually making the guild like our mighty saviour Mahz or moderating it like our lovely moderators. There are a lot of people who take their hand at it, and put a lot of work into the project only to see it fall dead within a couple of days, weeks or months. Without the prospect of a conclusion in sight. To start this article I went around members of the Guild at random and asked them this simple question: “What do you think makes a good GM?”
Well, not to be super subjective, I think it falls upon the style of either game or RP you do. General rules of being a good GM in my mind is either providing more content to keep a RP thriving, making sure people aren't overstepping your predesignated rules, answering questions whenever given. Situational wise, if we are talking Non Advanced RP's I think all that should be expected is you give updates on the RP, see why people may not be posting, giving helping hand out to help people with CS's.
As a GM you need to manage players, set standards of behavior and gameplay, and tell a story in such a way that includes everyone--whatever their role. At minimum you need to care, and need to try. Do those two things and you're more than halfway to being a good GM. The rest is skill and luck.
A good GM knows where a story is headed, regardless of how it gets there, and is able keep players focused on that goal.
There are two things that to me separate between a good GM and a terrible GM. Surprisingly, it's not "writing skills" or "imagination". 1. KNOW YOUR PLACE. The GM is the world, the players are the protagonists. Together, they create the story. Any GM who confuses this with being a protagonist himself or trying to kill his players all the time, fails at his most basic duty.(edited) 2. KNOW YOUR PLAYERS. The story should not be the ultimate goal, but rather everyone having fun and being able to release their inner protagonist. GMs need to be able to be flexible, to drop arcs their players don't enjoy, to add more content of a specific type, to compromise but also prevent the players from running too amok. These two abilities are imperative in my opinion and are also very difficult. This is why there's so much difference between good GMs and "okay" GMs.
Some good points. Caring, active, organised and focus seem to be the general consensus. It is true. From the moment you put up and IntChk you have a story you want to tell, you need to make it seem interesting but you also need to make it seem like you care. If you personally have not put time and effort into it then players will wonder why they should bother. While in roleplays that use world-creation this comes naturally it is equally as important in roleplays that take place in a fandom, as prospective players know the fandom and that is the reason they opened the thread (from the title) you need to prove to them you know what you’re talking about, and how you’re story is going to fit into the grand scheme of things. Though as indicated that’s not all there is too it, caring is just about getting people in the door.
Activity should go without saying, I myself have once put a Roleplay on hiatus and then brought it back when I had free time rather than letting it struggle through me not being able to give it enough love. If you do not have the time do not start a roleplay. People have questions, they need help and you need to maintain a semblance of order. Even in a free roam RP letting players do their own thing for too long without some sense of direction is never a good thing, when you are GMing a roleplay you need to be aware that that takes priority. As Peaceless said you’re here to be the Gamemaster, you are the world and without you the world cannot function.
Organisation is maybe not something one tends to associate with being a gamemaster. Though it is important. You need to know where your story is going. Not your players, don’t spoil things for them. Keep them on their toes, and more importantly keep contingencies. Players tend to be devious and mess with your plans, if you’re not well organised you aren’t going to be able to compensate for this when it happens. Always be prepared for them to mess with your plans, never have them mess with your plans and then go ‘Oh gosh darn, can you change that?’. Be ready for anything, know every player and the place in the story their characters play though try not to favour one player over the others (unless it is a roleplay where there is a specific hero). You need to juggle all of the players and keep them entertained to keep the story moving, stay on top of it.
I kind of covered this in the previous paragraph though it’s so important I’m going to mention it again. Flexibility. Players are going to mess with your plans, they’ll turn down the dark scary hallway that you were trying to make them avoid instead wanting them to go down the path of sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes they’ll drop or disappear off the Guild, their characters will get hurt or they’ll even die in some situations. Be ready for this, players can be stubborn and uncooperative but you need to roll with it. If you’re rigid and uncompromising then what is the point in having players there? Remember they are writing the story, which is why you made it a roleplay in the first place. If you’re a GM of a roleplay to tell your own story then you’re not going to get far.
Most of all, enjoy the experience. Sometimes it isn’t going to work, and that’s okay. Try again, figure out what went wrong and fix it. Though if you have an amazing concept and nobody bites don’t be disheartened, as @Ruby says it takes an element of luck and the Guild has phases where sometimes a particular type of Roleplay is more popular than it usually is (Such as Dark Fantasy being more popular around Halloween time). Learn the rhythms of the Guild, if it doesn’t work now that doesn’t mean you can’t refine it and try again later. Each story is worth telling, and once you find the right cast you’ll never look back.
If you have any questions on this article, or wish for me to cover a specific issue contact me on the Guild, Discord or via pming @RPGN. Though like with all the other articles feel free to discuss your answer to ‘what makes a good GM’ below.
For this issue, we interviewed @RomanAria from the RPGC crew. Everyone be gentle with her, she’s a little… off in the head. Like... she asked the questions herself and then answered them. Talking in a different voice and everything.
RPGN: Let's start off with a bit of history - What made you join the contest staff, and then what made you stay on with them?
Aria: Well, when I was a very smol child – like literally I think I was nine or ten - on Oldguild, I applied to be a moderator. Naturally, they refused me and told me to wait till I was older. But I wanted to do something to give back to the community, so I asked around and eventually wound up in contact with MDK, who offered me a spot in the contest crew. What made me stay was probably that they all actually put up with my childish antics and actually trusted me and made me feel like a valuable member of the crew. Like I didn’t get sidelined because of the fact that I was a small child who was new to the forums and the internet in general…
RPGN: What is your favorite memory of being a staff member?
Aria: Oh, that has got to be DPRPGC #7. My god that was an amazing contest. Waking up on the morning the contest was supposed to start and reading the contest post and not knowing what the devil was going on and flailing at MDK and having him say just two words to us – “trust me.” And then we started getting so many amazing entries and just… that was a fabulous contest.
RPGN: You participated as a contestant in several of these - which one was your favorite?
Aria: Oh, bother- I don’t even know. Probably #3, the cosmos. Or #8, snapshot. Or… Oh, I don’t even know. Probably 3 or 4 or 7 again or 8 – gah, I liked them all.
RPGN: Applying that to being an admin: What are your favorite themes to try to write into a contest?
Aria: I always try to write in a workaround for the theme, another way of looking at it – I also try to incorporate some sort of theme that could be rendered artistically, rather than purely through writing. Not that anyone’s taken the bait but… Just going to toss this out here that RPGC says nothing about being a purely writing contest, and certain themes or bonus categories could be interpreted to encourage visual arts of some sort.
RPGN: What advice would you give to members seeking to join the contests for the first time?
Aria: Go out there. Do something crazy, off-the-wall. Usually we don’t bite. I mean, everyone’s at least polite about biting. We’ve never thrown an entry out, never yelled at people too much (I mean except for invoking feels but that’s a good-yell, not a bad-yell.) so… yeah. Come up with something and send it in. Everyone’s a winner!
RPGN: And with that I think it's time for closing remarks - is there anything else you'd like to say about RPGC, the contests, or the guild in general?
Aria: Yeah! One more thing: The contests are doing something kinda screwy right now. We don’t really run contests over November and December due to all of the holidays. Right now – YES, RIGHT NOW! – the final of the Twelve Labours is concluding. You have until objective midnight today to submit an entry. After this, you’ll have no more chances to enter contests until probably the middle of January. Unless, that is, you’re doing NaNoWriMo, in which case we’re running a SPECIAL RPGC JUST FOR YOU! That’s right, folks! More on that coming after the conclusion of The Twelve Labours!
RPGC: Right then, a strong sales pitch to end the interview. If you’ll just step out of the interview booth, Aria…
Aria: Actually can I stay for a bit longer? I like it in here, the spirit of RPGN past can’t get me when I'm in here.
RPGC: No, you need to go. We're out of time.
Closing Note
I'd like to thank [@Roman Aria] for facing the Spectres of RPGN past and returning to us, and @Vietmyke for trying something new and helping out with RPGN. If you'd like to get involved, whether you know how or not feel free to PM @RPGN, @Sep or join us on our private Discord chat. I'm still hoping to throw in a couple of more features though some of them I'll need help with simply as my artistic talent is sorely lacking.
Though, if you want a sneak peek to our next issue I will leave you with this.
Date in the topic is in European format because I'm a filthy commie. - Hank
I am eternal, I am fleeting. I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere. People count me up, people count me down when you need me there is not enough but when you don’t there is too much. What am I? Time.
I can bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face. I form in an instant and last for a lifetime, but I can be forgotten. What am I? Memories.
I want to say a big " thank you " @RPGN for answering my question. It really helped. I just made a small, small change to the plot ( it will happen a little later in the RP tho' ) and he shall die. A lot of new characters/players joined in the RP and he is no longer "needed" for the RP.
What was my favorite RP moment ever ? Hmm...it was when I was still roleplaying on Starcraft 2. It was at the end of the best ( and longest ) roleplay I ever took part in. I know it's strange for someone to like the end of their best RPs but that's simply the truth. Every race in the multiverse was at war with a race of destroyers ( think of it like a very,very huge number of Gods that only wish to destroy everything and that for every one person they killed, two of them appeared ) and this was the final battle. If this race of Gods ( called Draugs ) destroyed the "Creator" universe it would mean the end of all life everywhere as this "Creator" universe was at the center of every other universe and it linked all of them. ( think of Yggdrasil. The "Creator" universe was the base of the tree and the other universes were the rest of the tree. If the base gets cut, the tree falls down too ) Every character in the RP ( those that were still alive by then ) joined the fight. Good characters and evil ones too. It was a moment of unity for everyone. That moment will "haunt" me all my life. Friends and enemies fighting side by side, putting differences away to stop a common enemy. Gods and mortals. Men and women. Elders,Adults and children. Everyone that could hold a weapon or already had a natural weapon against an almost infinite number of enemies. Knowing that for most, it will be the last day in their life. Knowing that whatever will happen, they will be known as legends for all and knowing that if they loose the fight, the multiverse will be annihilated.
My questions
It's both for @Sep and @RomanAria ( I really want two answers here , please :) ).
What type of RP genres do you like ( sci-fi, fanstasy etc ) ? and Arena , NRP , Tabletop or Normal RPs ? Which one do you like the most and which one do you like the least and why ?
My Answer for riddle two.
I can bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face. I form in an instant and last for a lifetime, but I can be forgotten. What am I? I would say the answer is " Memory ".
@RomanAria <3 I need to know about #3 if it was that awesome. Also I'll totally look into doing non-written media for contests in the future, I had no idea that was a thing. YAY NANO! November, as my friend Sandy's char says, is the season for turkey and crazy writers. <3
My request of Aria is that she come back and write more Prince because I am addicted to feels. I will feed both of her all the muffins she wants. And pastries, since we know both he and Bits like those. <3
Oh, were we supposed to share a favorite moment? I have far, FAR too many -- and most require a great deal of explanation or having been present. Though doing four shifts of damage (a solid hit) against a for using a jacket (enemy was a fairy, so he said the large winter coat should be AOE and negate the bonus they had to dodge. Also my character got a boost from succeed in with style against slipping, since she's very agile and originally based on a cat. Or there's the time her older version hijacked a tank...anything with her, really. She tried ramming a dragon with a tank once.
A lot of great moments come from ooc discussion during the game. I have a collection of quotes from my groups. <3
Oh, there's the time a couple was surprised by their own wedding...it makes sense in context. Or the time my char, the one who hijacked the tank, made two mages back into range of an artifact that turned them into a god. The proposal of a date following my dude getting eaten by a dragon (he got better) was pretty epic. And there's been babies and marriage proposals and hangover arcs. We had someone try to blow us up during one hangover arc, but brcause we were in an area with toon physics, everyone was fine (again, it makes sense in context). Or the time we had an in universe yaoonfangirl give the president of Harold a copy of a fanfiction she'd wrten abourhim and his head of intellligance...that was hilarious, and resulted in the DM actually writing a few lines of fanfic. *giggles*
1x Thank
