Red_Snow


There's lots of excellent sites offering all sorts of advice to newcomers to Play By eMail (PBeM) Role-Play Games (RPGs), so I won't bother going on about it here. To put it simply, a RPG is a game where you play a role, and a PBeM RPG means that all the turns go out by eMail. So far so good?


This page details a number of House Rules in effect in this game. You don't need to read them to play - in fact paying too many attention to the rules behind a game spoils a lot of RPGs. Read, enjoy, and if you have any comments, articles, or suggestions, please send them to Silk Kendiron.



House Rules:


  • Posting In Character (IC)

  • Posting Out Of Character (OOC)

  • The Turn Sequence

    • If that doesn't put you off - and I hope it doesn't - and you still want to play, consider reading the game's Philosophy before emailing Silk Kendiron



    Posting IC

    The Subject of every IC posting made to the Red_Snow list has to conform to a standard format, e.g. "RSnw: 104 - Entering the caves - GM (IC)". This is so the GM, Players, and anyone else reading can see at a glance what the message is about, who it's from, and when it falls historically.


    The standard IC Subject is made up of three distinct parts. The first, "RSnw:", is automatically added every list mail sent out by the Phoenyx and shows what list the posting relates to. This is especially useful if you subscribe to a number of lists.


    The second part, "104 - Entering the caves", tells the reader what turn the IC posting relates to so the reader can scan for the earliest or latest posting with the greatest ease. Some email clients sort emails by subject, and this part will make the email client sort the postings into a sensible order.


    The third part, "GM(IC)", tells the reader who made that post, and that they were 'playing their character' (IC) at the time. In the example, the post is by the GM and is in character.


    In Character (IC) posts, e.g. GM(IC) or Dragon(IC), are only used to continue the story. Any IC post you receive from the GM will add to the story, probably starting where the previous GM(IC) posting ended, and ending with some sort of cliffhanger. Players should respond with an IC posting of their own, e.g. Dragon(IC) or Tenna(IC). Each Player should respond in the first person and include as many adjectives and adverbs as they feel appropriate. IC posts should not be used to pass 'behind the scenes' information or to chat - use OOC posts instead.

    House Rules Index



    Posting Out Of Character (OOC)

    The subject of an Out Of Character post should be prefixed Player Name(OOC), e.g. GM(OOC) or Dragon(OOC). That way, the reader will know that the post is chatty or rules-related.

    If the GM wants to tell a Player that the arrow that just hit their PC inflicted 2 wounds, then that information will come via an OOC post, separate from the turn post, and probably direct to the Player rather than via the list.

    OOC posts should be in the third person with respect to the PC (first in respect to the Player) and should not be used to pass IC information.

    House Rules Index



    The Turn Sequence

    The first post of the turn will usually be a GM(IC) posting to the list, followed almost immediately by any GM(IC) or GM(OOC) postings to individual Players or to the list as a whole. The Players' IC replies will have the same turn number and title in the Subject header, and should be addressed to the list. Any OOC replies should be addressed direct to the GM or to the list as appropriate.


    Canny Players will have realised that this means that if they delay posting thier actions for the next turn, they can see what the other PCs are planning to do. This allows the Players to coordinate their actions and is therefore a good thing
    ;-)

    But what if two or more Players are waiting to see what the other is/others are going to do? We could be waiting weeks! To get round this, the next Turn will be written and posted as soon as at least half of the necessary IC replies are in. In other words, wait too long and you'll miss your chance completely. Of course, it takes time to write a Turn, so the chances are that all but the pedantically slow will have time to reply.


    Multi-part replies are allowed, as are replies that superseed or replace the Player's first post. This means that the Players can tailor their responses in light of what the rest of the Party are doing, either doing less or doing something that others have forgotten to do. Any replies received after the next turn has been posted may be incorporated into following turns or may be ignored at the GM's discretion. The best way to be sure your PC will attempt an action is to re-post it in reply to the next turn.

    House Rules Index


    Index

    Go Home

    This page is maintained by Silk Kendiron on behalf of the Red_Snow list at Phoenyx.Net.
    This page last updated 12/9/99.

    We luv Lurkers!