- Hey! I haven't played a fantasy RPG in years.
Hmmm.. I think I'd like to play some kick-butt type so I can go
around and try to kill everything and win lots of fights and
stuff! Can I play... please!!!!!!!!
No. Definitely not. There is a place for warriors of
all sorts in Darklands. Actually, the game environment would
be pretty empty without them. However, players who are in the
right frame of mind will find that there won't be that much
fighting. You should want to play a fighter-type for the same
reason you'd play any other character type - fantastic roleplaying!
- What is Low Fantasy exactly?
Well, let's consider what high fantasy is. Consider this
formula:High Fantasy = characters swim in cold water, but
mysteriously come out the other end without being wet and without
catching a cold + Elves are dainty little fashion-conscious
fruitcakes + characters wear a matching set of blue armour, boots,
and helmet that are shaped (and painted) like a real dragon that
happen to be less than 5 pounds + characters can walk into small
town inns with loaded crossbows on their backs that (a) never accidentally
fire and (b) never seem to offend the locals + female heroines have
14 inch wastes, a bust the size of a medium sized boulder, and
long skinny legs that somehow manage to support the aforementioned
breasts. So what exactly is low fantasy? You can
probably guess... Low Fantasy = characters get sick from being wet
(oh yeah, they actually get wet) + they don't partake in acrobatic
fighting maneuvers with 200 lbs of adventuring gear on their backs +
40 goblins will kick a character's butt no matter what
"level" they are + characters get dirty from adventuring
in the wild AND this dirty appearance might actually have an
adverse affect on relations with strangers... ...you get the
picture.
- Stars of the Show
When writing posts for a Darklands' character, there are two
purposes. The first (and most important) is your enjoyment
and the enjoyment of your fellow players (and gamemaster of
course). The second is to entertain. The reason that I
employed such stringent criteria in choosing players (see below) is
so lurkers would actually enjoy the unfolding tales. There are
lots of PBEM lists out there where readers can watch the progress of
typically boring "fighters" and "thieves" as
they hack
their way through room after room fighting for treasure.
Darklands does not fall into this category.
As a Darklands'
player, think of yourself as both a screenwriter and an actor,
contributing to an exciting, ongoing adventure. Here are
some general guidelines to help keep you focused and "in the
zone"...
- Write sequentially.
Although each turn represents a fixed amount of time, and
characters may very well be involved in actions that overlap or
supercede the actions of other characters, always read the post(s) that comes
immediately before the one you are writing. Every turn will
be posted in the archives section of the site, on one web page,
from top to bottom in the order that they were posted. So be
a little creative. When possible (and necessary), make your
post a natural progression from the one previous. I realize
that this is kind of a "Zen" thing, so I'll stop
here. You know what I mean (right?)
- Don't assume the actions of key players.
Who are key players? Well, for one, the other
players. Others would include NPC's that the GM has
specifically mentioned or drawn attention to. In other
words, you cannot post, "Servius sweet talks Lady Olivia and
walks past her guards with a sly grin." Actions which
involve other key players must be halted at a point where the GM's
decisions will affect the outcome.
- Do assume the actions of nameless players.
Who are the nameless players? Just that - those NPC's
who have not been identified, but who you know to be there.
Therefore, if you find yourself in a crowded bizaar and require a
bumbling drunk or a juggling urchin to add flavour to your post,
create and include them. Of course, bringing a nameless
player to life may initiate the GM's imagination. This could
lead to (other than fireworks and smoke pouring from my ears) the
promotion of that nameless character to a key player. Such
things will be obvious.
- End on actions.
Department of Redundancy
Department. Not really. It's just so important that it
has to be repeated. End on an action that is hanging in the
balance of outcome. The only exceptions to this rule are
posts that you add solely for flavour. For example, while
other players are engrossed in trying to wring information out of
a stranger sitting across the table, you might decide to post a
short narrative on how much your character is enjoying the fare
(even if it is pan-fried dirt when compared to the cuisine of your
native land.)
- Communicate with other characters.
When you want your character to communicate with other player
characters, do just that. As usual, send the post to the
entire mail group, but feel free to address other characters in
your posts. In many cases, it may be possible for player
characters to resolve their conversations or decisions without
any intrusion from the busybody Gamemaster.
- Subject of Posts
When writing a post for the game, PLEASE follow the following
format for writing your email subject lines. This is
important, not just in terms of knowing where we are in the game,
but also as a general courtesy to those players who may be using
their email address for purposes other than the game. Write
your subjects in this way...
Chap #: Turn # (playername)
where Chap # is the chapter number (the first chapter is titled
introduction by the way, "Intro" for short), Turn # is the
current turn, and (playername)
is your first name (not your character's name). Therefore, My
first post will look like this...
Intro: Turn 1: (Jason)
Then, when Mary replies to it, it will look like this...
Re:
Intro: Turn 1: (Jason) - Mary
So, to absolutely insult your intelligence, when Terry replies to my
Chapter 2, Turn 4 post, and Taylor in turn replies to Terry, the
subject lines will appear as so...
Re: Chap 2: Turn 4: (Jason) - Terry
Re: Chap 2: Turn 4: (Terry) - Taylor Why am I beating
this thing to death? Well, as described at the bottom of the
page, there is no official "mailing list" for the
posts. Instead, I'll be taking all the posts and publishing
them on the web site. The subject lines will help me get
through the work faster. Thanks for pandering to my anal ways.
- Frequency of Posts
Darklands will be played on a regular basis, with one turn
taking place a week. Players can post more than once per week,
but all of the action that takes place during one week of real time
will be considered the same amount of time for all players during
game time. Here's how it will work...I will post the
introduction to a turn on Sunday night or Monday. Players have
until Friday to respond. During the weekend, I will
consolidate all of the responses and post my response on Monday.
This turn response will lead into the introduction to the new
turn. And that's about it. Therefore, each player must post
once a week at the minimum. If this is not possible, you might
be better off lurking and only reading the
posts of other people. This commitment has to
be taken seriously. Failing to post every now and then is not
that big of a deal. In cases when a player doesn't respond to
a post before the next one, the GM has license to make assumptions
on what the character will do and will decide the character's
actions in the player's stead. If a player is consistently
lax, the GM will remove them from the mailing list to make room
for players who have more time in their schedule to play.
Unfortunately, strict rules are necessary, since one player's lack of
dedication can ruin the game for everyone else Understandably,
things arise throughout the year. When such times can be
predicted, please let me know so I can play your character until you
are ready to resume.
- Writing Proficiency
This might seem like another mean and nasty rule to some
readers. In short,
if you can't write effectively in a narrative & descriptive
fashion, this game is definitely not for you. As described on
the main page, players competing for a place in the game must submit
a writing sample. The vocabularies and creativity of
the players is what will bring the game to life. Again,
another point to consider before deciding to play.
- Spelling Proficiency
"Bad spellers of the world untie!" If you fall
into this category, do me a BIG, BIG favour! Write your posts
in a word processor that has a spellchecker. When you're done,
simply select all of your text, copy it (CTRL C) and paste it (CTRL
V) into your new email message. Voila! Instant correct
spelling.
- Third Person Present
All posts should be written in the third person present tense.
i.e. "Morgan considers the brute standing before her, his
stench stifling her breathing. 'Disgusting" she mumbles under
her breath. She remembers the description that..."
You get the idea.
- Length of Posts
How long should a post be? Well, in general, quality wins
over quantity. What do I mean by quantity? Two things -
the length of a post and the number of posts. There will be
occasions when players wish to post numerous times a week (i.e.
conversations, multiple actions, combat, etc...), but budget your
posting time accordingly. A fantastic post written in thrift
will often have more effect than a needlessly verbose novella.
So, you be the judge.
- Flavour of Posts
Darklands takes place in a low fantasy setting as described in Darklands:
A Grim World of Adventure! Posts should be written to
enforce this atmosphere. Melodramatic language, exaggeration,
sensory description - all of these should be employed to bring the
game world to life.In other words, avoid writing...
"Derk keeps his eyes on the thief and takes out his sword..." but
something like this...
"Derk considers the ragtag miscreat before him, and draws his
sword with a cool menace emenating from his steely gaze..." (Note:
this is not to say that there is no room for comic relief or fun in
the game. On the contrary, there is always room for humour.
However, humour should never compromise the general
"feeling" of the game setting.)
- Write Suggestively
Many decisions are made based upon action rolls as described in The
Rules of Play. However, I won't deny, that the GM (me) can be
swooned and swayed by fantastic suggestive writing. Whenever
you attempt an action, write your post like a sale's pitch. Be
creative! Enforce the skills, attributes or knowledge that the
character is trying to use when attempting an action. The body
of the post is no place for lines such as, "Derk tries to use
his Fair Haggle skill." (see more on this below)
Instead, suggest what you are up to through clever creative writing,
such as..."Derk considers the price of the horse with a
furrowed brow. After years of bartering with the horselords of
Meirer, he stands firm, certain that this local fool would crack
under his rugged visage and carriage..." You might be
thinking, "What does it matter? Ultimately, actions are
decided on the character's skill level, right?" Well,
yes, that's true, but the point of the game is not wandering around
using skills and racing to hoard Adventure Points. Great
description, narration, and contribution to an entertaining, ongoing
story is the purpose of the game. Reinforce that purpose as
you find innovative ways to communicate as a player to a GM in the
midst of your post.
- How about combat?
Good question. Combat will be run using the
"storytelling" method described in the FUDGE combat
rules. In essence, as the GM, I will decide what is a
manageable piece of action for any one post, making sure not to back
the characters into situations that they have no intentions of
getting themselves into. Usually, this will be done by ending
my posts (when replying to or introducing combat action) at points
where the characters are left with a chance to make some decision
which might affect the outcome.Don't worry about combat for
now. Trust me - seriously. I have no intentions of
trying to kill off characters or anything like that. Like it
says at the top of the page. The setting is fantasy, but the
major focus of game-play will be problem-solving, exploration,
interaction and so forth.
-
Communicating directly with the GM in posts
There may be times when you really need to ask a question, or to
clarify something your character is attempting in the post. In
these cases, At the end of the body of the post, use a small line of
asterisks and write whatever it is you're trying to say in plain
English. Like this...* * *
Jason,
When Derk is speaking in this situation, does it count as Public
Speaking, or is that only for larger crowds? If I'm wasting my
time with this line of posts, let me know,
Thanks,
Your Name
In this way, the bodies of the posts will not become cluttered with
non-narrative information. In cases where you want to discuss
something or ask a direct question, use the email on the site, and the
bottom of every page instead of posting to the group. Of course, there
may be times when you have questions and you're not sure whether they are
suitable for the entire group. Just send them to the GM and we can figure
it out.
The Non-Existent Mailing List
Where is the mailing list for Darklands? There isn't one
per say. Alot of groups use the highly convenient E-Groups
site for this purpose, but I don't want to do that. If I do,
the archive of mail there will start replacing this site. The
idea is for players and lurkers alike to come here for all game
needs - including to read post archives. The archives section
of the site will include all of the posts in a single, narrative
format. I will create these archive pages from the email I
accumulate during the week in my Inbox. So what do you do?
Easy. I'll be sending each player an email message with the
first name and email address of each of the other players.
Simply create a mailing group in your email software (most software
includes this feature - even hotmail and yahoo) and include all of
the names and emails that were sent to you in the list. Name
the list appropriately (i.e. "darklands,"
"adventurers," etc...) and simply select the group name in
your To: line whenever you send a post. If you have any problems
trying to set up your mailing list, email me and we'll figure it
out. VERY
IMPORTANT!!!
When you reply to a message, make sure you replace the original
sender's address with the group address! Otherwise, you'll
be sending posts to one individual instead of the group.
There will be more on the way as the game becomes more refined.
What's here already should be enough to tell you if Darklands PBEM is
what you're looking for.
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ABOUT FUDGE: Fudge is a
role-playing game written by Steffan O'Sullivan, with extensive input
from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of Fudge
are available on the internet at http://www.fudgerpg.com
and in book form from Grey Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA
02368. They may be used with any gaming genre. While an individual work
derived from Fudge may specify certain attributes and skills, many more
are possible with Fudge. Every Game Master using Fudge is encouraged to
add or ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such
material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice and
disclaimer (complete with Fudge copyright notice). If you wish to charge
a fee for such material, other than as an article in a magazine or other
periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license from the author
of Fudge, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264. You must
include at the beginning of each derivative work the following
disclaimer, completed with your name, in its entirety.
DISCLAIMER: The material based on
Fudge, entitled Darklands Pbem, are created by, made available
by, and Copyright (C) 2001 by Jason Tilley, and are not necessarily
endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other
Fudge materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan nor any publisher of other
Fudge materials is in any way responsible for the content of these
materials unless specifically credited. Original Fudge materials
Copyright (C)1992-1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.
All images on this site were created by
Jason Tilley (c) 2001 or taken from free for use images sites with
explicit guidelines for use. All guidelines have been adhered to.
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