Darkmatter

Enduwin: Act 1 - The Dark Awaits

@Somnium

Yep! Hopefully everyone else is ready to go after the weekend

Enduwin: Act 1 - The Dark Awaits

@Somnium

People can often find themselves not able to continue, and I also don't see the need to limit the group! You're more than welcome.

JASFR: Journal for Advanced Science Fiction RolePlay

<Snipped quote by Darkmatter>

One possibility, I've experimented with and enjoyed, is just to embrace the dynamic being bemoaned here. Alot of RPers seem to be very interested in world building- and frankly, the world building ideas of most RPers are more interesting (at least to me) than reading their prose. So just give the people what they want, and a framework to do it in.

Consciously spinning an NRP as a collaborative worldbuilding exercise and encouraging people to worldbuild to their heart's content has at least two upsides: 1) it's (apparently for many people) flat out fun, and can frankly be more fun than reading IC posts about what space-queens and space-diplomats or not-zergs are doing as written by amateur authors 2) worldbuilding can lend itself to fiction set in-universe, and can be a fruitful source of real collaboration as opposed to the ridiculous pseudo-RTS dynamics that so many NRPs fall in to (and which I think is part of what is being complained about here). In my experience it can actually help the IC side of things. I know that the most creative and successful I've been at writing science fiction or fantasy scenes or short stories has been in the context of collaborative worldbuilding. My most successful experiments with this dynamic have been in fantasy settings- NRPs which were extremely healthy for months and only failed because I could no longer GM for RL reasons, but the principle holds true for scifi/space opera as well.

Just my thoughts. If the people like worldbuilding, give them worldbuilding, and try to structure the worldbuilding so as to enhance the IC rather than compete with it.

@Flagg

Flagg I normally agree with you on the whole but here I honestly don't. If it's just world building that's wanted, and I understand that, I love it myself, then why even make an RP thread? It gives it an IC whether you like it or not. That IC being stagnant will make people in the roleplay think it is dying/dead so even if they're making great content there and then, the lack of IC content deters people subconsciously. People are simple animals at the end of the day.

If you make an RP thread it has to be with view to actually RP. World building is a separate but connected aspect. I'll straight admit I enjoy it more than true IC RPing, but at the end of the day without a character'd story what does it mean? It's all fizzle with no bang. I don't want to read a wiki on the empire and the rebellion and then not watch star wars.

Enduwin: Act 1 - The Dark Awaits

Color me interested! Is there still room?

@VoiD

Sure is! Welcome.

Work's been whipping my buns but I've managed to get the first bit of Brevana's backstory up for your perusal. May be able to polish it off when I get off at midnight.

@Lutalica

That's no worries. Don't rush yourself!

Enduwin: Act 1 - The Dark Awaits

Color me interested! Is there still room?

@VoiD

Sure is! Welcome.

Work's been whipping my buns but I've managed to get the first bit of Brevana's backstory up for your perusal. May be able to polish it off when I get off at midnight.

@Lutalica

That's no worries. Don't rush yourself!

JASFR: Journal for Advanced Science Fiction RolePlay

I think a lot the issue can be summed up with the following rhetoric I often spew;

Good Sci Fi has cool lasers and explains how they work.
Amazing Sci Fi illustrates why those lasers are being shot and by whom.
The issue with these Sci Fi Rps is the laser never getting fired, only discussed.

Enduwin: Act 1 - The Dark Awaits

Chapter One ~ An Offer Most Curious

---

Enduwin
Vrentian Plains
Sfel
Docks
Fish Rest Tavern

6:23 am 3rd Day of Fire.

“The spiders are restless, stirring, whispering talking; afraid.
When the spiders are fearful it is a portent most dire.
High in the Skrag the Speaker’s Speak and beg the Listener to Hear.
Low in Aumhaft, across the swept plains, tales of flame reach Lords’ ears.
Darkness moves again, it’s said, stirs its head from an age old slumber.”

“Ah! Give in! Quit spooking me kids will ya!” came the yell of the tavern owner. A gruff, slightly greasy man, though bearing a welcoming smile.
Three children all younger than ten, by the stranger’s reckoning, scampered away from the cloaked patron and out the door onto the docks of Sfel. The middle-aged man who’d been regaling the old wives’ tale to them left out a throaty chuckle, clamped by the smoke of his pipe.
“Aye. Another, good sir.” He beckoned to the tavern man.
“They should be arriving shortly.”

The apparent stranger pulled down the hood of his tapered robes and smiled.
"Mister Cuvahkt?" came the question.
"Aye Conrad. I'd appreciate it if you'd keep my meeting of some, peculiar individuals in a tavern at dawn to yourself."
Conrad, evidently the tavern owner's name, was a little surprised to see the teacher darken his door like this. What individuals did he mean? 'Who was coming?' he wondered. An early morning mystery was not what Conrad has expected that nippy morn after flopping himself out of bed when the children has awoken.
"Not to pry or nothing, Mr. C, but ya cannot think I'd not ask the meaning of such when ya stroll in 'ere this early with some odd sounding business?" Conrad said, in a questioning but not unfriendly tone.

Eolas left out a small chuckle before replying; "I told you many times, Conrad, call me Eolas."
No answer to the question posed was given. Eolas knew Conrad to be a good man, a community man. He felt bad about just thrusting this on him, but an impromptu meeting had to been arranged and a tavern was the logical place. Looking up at the tavern owner, he saw a furrowed brow and look of deep consternation in his eyes. Sighing slightly, Eolas resigned that he at least owed the man an explanation, even if it was to be a fabricated one.
"It's some old baggage. Something from back in Ozgart. Family matter. I'd just like to get this over. I'm sorry for landing it on your lap on an early morning, but I'd really appreciate some tight lips. I have a certain air of perfection, of not being a person, that needs to be maintained for the parent's sake, as a teacher."
Conrad's face unforrowed, his expression soften and he nodded meaningful at the old scholar. Approaching his patron's table, he landed down a second mug of broth without saying a word.

There wasn't time for truth or guilt. This wasn't who Eolas was. Lying to people, sulking about in the dawn as people lay in bed. Using backwater channels to get word out that he needed people hired. It all felt so, so dirty to him. Puffing his cheeks and exhaling, the old Ventus genuinely felt the weight of the world baring down on him. Reaching down and fiddling with the cuff of his boot a little, he began to feel more than a little anxious about this whole endeavour. His endeavour. It had all been such a rush 'till now, he'd nary had a moment to pause and think about. 'Well no backing out' he concluded silently to himself.

Only a moment later, as if the universe were in sync, the tavern door swung open and in strode the first of his so-called 'applicants.'

---

Enduwin: Chapter 1 - The Dark Awaits

(oops)

@Arawak

Haha, C'mon down.

JASFR: Journal for Advanced Science Fiction RolePlay

By any chance have you noticed the cycle of intensive world building, progressive loss of thematic focus and eventually player drop out sprees that seems to affect sci-fi NRPs?

Interstellar Ascension is perhaps the most interest case study of such NRP cycle.

@Arawak

Old wounds cut deep.
Though I agree, this cycle results in the death of easily 90% of the NRPs here. Myself and @Terminal, by his suggestion, had been deliberating writing a guide on what causes this, how to avoid it and to just generally raise awareness of it. It is the number cause of death in the NRP section.

If that work would possibly be better transferred here, then I'm happy to speak frankly and honestly about that particular RP, as a case study, as the GM.

Enduwin: Act 1 - The Dark Awaits

I'm not really sure if there's a need for a healer or for more characters but you're more than welcome to make one if you want to.

Edit To OP - Information on the RP

This RP is titled 'Act 1' for a very specific reason and that's the concept of future proofing it. I'd very much like to make this RP quick. Not rush through it, by any means, but to not let it just drag on. It will have a middle a beginning and end. At which point, the story of these characters or at least this part of it, will end. I would then love to move to a second Act, possibly a large time jump, continuing to make new adventures in a saga like manner. It sounds maybe a bit too ambitious, but I feel it can really solve the issue of RPs going stale and having nothing happen after a couple months in. Of course this will require a huge effort from me, which I am going to try my best to do, and I'd love to have as many reoccurring players as possible, to share in the saga.

Edit
I started the IC. Don't feel rushed to have to post right now, it's there as IC setup so as you can post once ready knowing what's up! I'd like to think the post serves as an example of the kind of posts I'd prefer. 500-1000 words of characterisation and plot is far far preferable to 5000 words of static frivolity. I genuinely look forward to everyone's first post!