The following were the rules that players of the game were given, and agreed to follow:
On the whole, standard Ren rules (devised for the game Galactic_Reniassance) apply (they are easy, and they work). Special rules for the game and character sheets appear below.
General Rules:
1) If you fail to abide by the "post every day rule", we might schedule an extra murder. Or get someone else to play you. Unless you can give the Mods a good reason (and preferably in advance). In addition to the three days of Christmas, players can request one more Holiday Day.
2) It is considered INCREDIBLY poor game form to make use of player information that your character cannot actually know. Remember that your character does not necessarily know the information that you have as their creator. Your character does not have your opportunity to read the posts!
For example, Thomas the Rhymer might tell Lady Eleanor that he has never met One-Eyed Oswald. The player of Lady Eleanor knows full well this is a lie - there have been numerous posts telling of how Thomas and Oswald have secretly met and plotted. But, if Thomas is a good liar, then Lady Eleanor will have no reason to suspect.
Remember that the person who has too much knowledge in a murder mystery (and shows off about it) INVARIABLY gets murdered next. You have been warned.
3) Please try to avoid "one or two line posts". We want to encourage the usage of joint posts due to interaction. Especially with scenes where it seems like you just can't get it together to do more than one or two line posts. This doesn't have to be the norm of posting, so don't think it is a requirement, but we want to encourage it for those players interested in doing it.
There will be times when flow of play will require that individual posts be allowed, but joint posts will help for preplanned scenes and situations.
Example: Two players have a scene planned for a fast paced argument (with food throwing). They work the details of the argument offlist back and forth by sending individual posts among each other. Once the outcome of the scene is agreed upon, then one of them posts with the complete post with the following above the main body: JOINT POST DUE TO OFFLIST INTERACTION.
4) At no time, under any circumstances are you to dictate the actions of another player in your posts. This includes their thoughts, facial expressions and emotions. If you reach a part where a character's reaction is required...STOP, and wait for them to respond. Some NPC's (Non-Player Characters) are fair game, before making moves with them, contact whoever is controlling the NPC first and see how he/she feels about it.
5) You are
not answer to a post without being "tagged". Every post ends with a
"tag" aimed at those involved (example:
6) Warnings are to be put above the main body in case the post deals with violence, sex, or anything else you think might be offensive. A warning simply looks like this: "WARNING! Contains sex." or "WARNING! Contains violence." or "WARNING! Contents might be offensive." However, it is intended that this game should, by and large, contain nothing that could not appear in a classic 1920s/30s detective novel as written by Agatha Christie (for example). We therefore aren't expecting that much "adult" content - and will get stroppy if people deviate from this.
7) Actions involving Non-Player Characters are not necessarily pre- negotiated. It is allowed to kill someone else's NPC without asking. It might be *polite* to ask, though.
8) All players are allowed to create NPCs. NPCs do not have to be registered by a Moderator. But NPCs are not supposed to be powerful PCs in disguise. NPCs can be anything from an innocent bystander that you write into a gunfight to have some extra drama, to your PCs loyal handyman who will be seen in the game off an on. If this game was a movie, the NPCs would be all the very small parts and all the extras. You can all have a manservant/maid servant to bounce ideas off.
9) Please state *location* in the subject header of your posts. That makes it easier for everyone. Example: "Living Room" or "The Garden: After dinner" are both good headers.
10) Any disputes should be referred to the Moderators, who will deal with them off-list and give their adjudication. The Moderators' decision will be final. Any players involved in such disputes will be sent full reasons for the decision that is made.
11) The biggest and most important rule of all HAVE FUN!
Extras for this game:
1. It is possible that guests/residents may wish to have private conversations and form alliances with other guests. This is permissible - but the GM must be copied in on all such off-list posts THIS IS VITAL. Off list posts do not count as the daily post.
2. Each accepted character must roll a 1/100 dice at Irony - http://www.irony.com/igroll.html . Based on this, the murderer and three victims will be chosen by the GM. The murderer will be contacted and will work with the GM on plotting, background etc. The murder victims will NOT be notified. They will just, within the course of the game, be killed (but very stylishly - and not with too much gore). Subsequently, they can have roles as servants or policemen, as they prefer.
3. All players must realise, when they sub, that they have the possibility of being murdered. The GM engages to remain unmoved in the face of pleading, threats and tears. Even bribes. Unless ... no, no, even bribes. Er ... that's it. Let's be flexible and it should work.
4. Each player must, in addition to the character sheet, supply a secret. These secrets you have supplied, will be used to give other characters hints about you. No-one will know another person'd secret; they will only know a couple of odd things ... possibly about different people. They will need to talk with others, question the person concerned (perhaps) and make guesses in order to establish the facts ...
Character Sheets:
We want to get this game rolling for Christmas, so we are prepared to be pretty flexible here. In other words, if you subsequently want to make your character a hot shot racing driver and didn't mention it in the character sheet, we are prepared to listen to your arguments for the change before saying, "No." Hell, we may even say, "Yes."
NAME:
AGE:
PLACE OF ORIGIN:
SEX:
HEIGHT:
WEIGHT:
HAIR:
EYES:
APPEARANCE:
BACKGROUND/HISTORY/ETC:
SKILLS:
DISADVANTAGE:
SECRETS:
EQUIPMENT:
DEFINITIONS:
NAME:
Just a name. Pick one you like.
AGE:
You have to be at least 16. No upper limit.
PLACE OF
ORIGIN:
Are you British, a Colonial or an interesting foreigner?
SEX:
Male or female, basically. Your choice.
HEIGHT:
Within reason.
WEIGHT:
Within reason.
HAIR:
Colour and style, please.
EYES:
Colour and, if you want to comment on it, shape and size.
APPEARANCE:
What your character looks like - attractive, or with a limp, a scar
on the left cheek etc. You might also want to describe the clothes your
characters wears if they further a certain style.
BACKGROUND/HISTORY/ETC:
Anything you'd like to tell us about your character and where he/she
came from. It's nice if you start by stating a keyword for your PC -
like "detective", "aristocrat" or "jewel thief", for instance.
SKILLS:
You get to pick up to three skills that you are much better than average
at. This is mainly so that the moderators can see what your PC is aiming
at. The primary skill is what you are awesomely good at,
the secondary is what you're very good at, the tertiary
is something that you just do a lot better than average. This is one
of the things that define a PC from an NPC - the PCs are tougher and
better than the "ordinary" person.
But if you don't like to play it that way, you can always give your PC odd skills, like cartoon-drawing or keyring-collecting. Good skills can (but doesn't have to) be: Engineering, Diplomacy, Quick-wittedness, Detective abilities, Gunplay, Swordplay, Martial Arts, Acrobatics, Multilingual, Playing Cards, Archaeology, Psychology, Driving, Cooking, Business Economy, Dancing ... and just about anything else.
DISADVANTAGE:
We want to encourage PCs that aren't altogether perfect. Therefore,
please pick a disadvantage. If you like, your PC can of course have
more than one (after all, most real people have) but you only need to
pick one here. Disadvantages can be things like: Short temper, drinks
too much, limps, has back pains, can't read and write, morose, absent-minded,
coward, can't trust people, is terribly ugly, or just about anything
else you can think of.
SECRET:
One key feature of this game is that every character must have a
nasty little secret buried somewhere in their lives. And be waned -
it is more than likely to come out ...
EQUIPMENT:
What does your character own? A little freighter perhaps? A cottage?
Or just a backpack and some gum? If you can motivate why your character
has something, it's ok. The moderators will tell you if you've overdone
it ...
If you have any questions or need help in any way, please feel free to contact the moderators - or just write to [email protected]
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