Hi there! You've reached the Information, Rules, and Guidelines Page for the Xena_Hercules Role Play Game/List!
No, this isn't that Centurion and Gladiator game we used to play.
But of course, if you are offended by the above joke, or don't recognize it as
what Gabrielle asked Joxer in "Forget Me Not" on 3rd season XWP, you may be
on the wrong list.
This game is set in mythological Greece, shortly after the Trojan War, in and around the little town of Calydon in the land of Aetolia, in western/central Greece, and on the road towards the island of Ithaka. (A handy map can be found at http://plato-dialogues.org/tools/images/bigmaps/greece.gif.) We have several storylines: one is a light, caper-sort of story centering around Iolaus, Autolycus, thievery, babes, and a stolen ruby of Hades. A second, developing plot involved Hercules and a lost princess of Troy, who've encountered a mermaid in a stream in the woods. And the third and most serious one centers around Xena, Gabrielle, Ephiny, Eponin, Salmoneus, and a quest to Ithaka. For the purposes of allowing the maximum number of players to play their favorite characters, we are deviating from the shows XWP and HTLJ sometime prior to Season 5 of XWP, but sometime after Season 2. So Xena does not have a daughter, Gab never went Hari Krishna on us, and all Amazons, Olympian gods, and Joxer are still alive. {Details beyond that can be worked out by the players of any affected characters, provided that they are relatively believable.}
In essence, the game is a combination of collaborative short-story or fan fiction writing, and improvisational theatre, with just a tad of D&D style role-playing, all done via e-mail.
So. How do you play? Easy. Choose/create a character from XWP, HTLJ, Young Herc (aged 20 years into adulthood, of course, like Herc and Iolaus have) or mythology. Ancient history characters are possible, as are original ones. But memorable one-time guest stars can be fascinating characters to build on! There's an "available character" list at the bottom of this page, and character descriptions can be found at: http://www.oocities.org/xhlist. You may play up to three characters, but in certain cases you may end up writing the role of any number of "non-player characters," aka "red shirts," aka bit part or cameo roles. Just remember that the fun is in interacting with other players, not in writing monologues.
Once you've chosen your character, write a mini-short story (a couple of paragraphs is fine) as a sort of "audition piece" detailing who your character is, where they are, what they are doing, etc. Just a sort of character sketch to ensure that a) your character will fit in appropriately, and b) you're serious about writing. Then e-mail it to me at joxerfan@yahoo.com . Sadly, this isn't a democracy, so my decision is final. But I'm a pretty fair kinda guy.
Examples of good characters and appropriate writing:
"Tara had aged two years since Xena had brought dance to her village. Her hair was longer now, her temper not so short, her figure more womanly. But no matter how tolerant her town might now be, she felt she was destined for greater things. So one night she quietly climbed out her bedroom window...."
OR:
"Kayla missed Iolaus. True, she had tried to kill him the last time they met, but that was while she had been enchanted by Aphrodite, and under Deimos's influence as well. When the spell had worn off, she realized Iolaus was not such a bad sort after all. For a man. And now that she had left her Amazon tribe, she realized that she wanted to find him....."
Examples of INAPPROPRIATE characters and/or BAD writing:
"Joxella was looking for a guy just like her, when she met Joxer...."
"Adrogydon apperd and sed I am a god of the Isseralities I can detroy yu with a sigle glanse..."
"Ash stepped out of his Delta 88 and strapped on his chainsaw...."
"Cypher was a shapechanging ninja bounty hunter limited to 3 forms per day..."
"Zeus appeared wherever Xena was and said Hi xena, where's Gabrielle?"
Once your character is approved, we can figure out where and how to join an existing plotline. Most players go to school and/or work and/or have family obligations, so don't expect immediate service or response. I try to respond to everything within a day or two, but of course I am sometimes away from the net for a few days, so, like, dig it.
Note: This is the only way to begin playing. Everyone is on "moderation" for the first few weeks, so no matter how many times you post to the list saying "what characters are needed?" I'll keep referring you back to this page. :) This is to make sure that you are serious about writing, and that you understand how to follow the rules.
By the way - while original characters are always encouraged, we've had three characters with amnesia, six Amazons desiring to get away from their tribes for some adventure, and four "Queens" of thieves, so you might think along different lines than those. :)
NEXT. Subscribe to the game, if you haven't already. The site can be found at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/xena_hercules.
For any first time role-players, be forewarned - you may receive a half-dozen e-mails daily, which you will respond to "in character." Or everyone can be busy with work, school, family, etc., and there can be no game activity for the better part of a week. If you think your mail box is getting swamped with RPG messages, I suggest you get an entirely different e-mail service (like Hotmail or Yahoo) so you can keep your RPG messages separate from your everyday e-mails. (You can always choose the "digest" or "web only" version of the game, if you need your mailbox to be uncluttered.
The address for the list is xena_hercules@egroups.com. You can start posting role play messages to that address whenever you're ready and your character has been approved; your message will be forwarded to all subscribers.
It's best to review the last couple of days of "archived" messages at YahooGroups BEFORE posting your first "in-game" message, and to e-mail me at joxerfan@yahoo.com for details. Once the game is under way, you may want to watch and read the posts for a few days, until you get a good feel for what everyone is doing. That way you won't type a post saying that you encounter Aphrodite in Athens when she's really in the middle of a love scene on Olympus. It is also STRONGLY recommended that you e-mail one or more of the players in an existing plotline before showing up in the middle of a story; some of the ongoing plots need new characters more than others. I'll gladly help facilitate this.
Just remember - this is a Xena-based roleplay game, and not Dungeons and Dragons. So choose a warlord like Draco, a demi-god like Morrigan, or a heroine like Nebula, and not an all-powerful Arch-Druid or Paladin Lord, or a Buffy-style vampire!
Note: this game is patterned directly after the *original* Xena RPG, which was created by Becky Dunne in the spring of 1998, and can still be found at YahooGroups. For some history on the evolution of this game over the last 5 years, go here.
GENERAL RULES:
Don't try to control other players' characters; don't speak for anyone else, except perhaps noticing an expression on their face.
Don't kill off anyone without their permission. (You can always work out plotlines with other players via personal e-mail, IM, or ICQ.)
Don't be a "dog in the manger." In other words, if you can't commit the amount of time your fellow players are committing, then let someone else have a shot at your character. You can always play a character whose presence is not needed as often.
Let me know if you are going to be gone for any significant period of time. Otherwise, if I don't see you post, I'll contact you to make sure you're still in the game. If I don't hear from you after a while, your character may be up for Gabs. I mean grabs. This is not meant to seem harsh, but a plotline can come to a screeching halt if it revolves around Gabrielle, for example, and Gabrielle is nowhere to be found.
Let's exercise self-censorship. I don't think anyone has a problem with sexy scenes, or violent ones, so strong PG-13 scenes leaning towards R-rated are fine, but use common sense. XWP, HTLJ and indeed all Ren Pics shows are known for their double entendre and over-the-top violence, but they make it onto TV nonetheless. "Son of a bacchae" or "Holy shipwrecked son of a sea cook" are actually much funnier than their modern parallels. If you feel compelled to write a really graphic erotic scene, send it to me. Note - this last suggestion may not technically have anything to do with the game. ;-)
*PLEASE KEEP ANY ARGUMENTS, ESPECIALLY NON-GAME-RELATED ONES,
OUTSIDE OF THE GAME - USE YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL, IM, OR THE TELEPHONE!*
(note: oil-wrestling is always
a fine means of resolving disputes, just as long as you take pictures.)
Let's try to keep everything as credible as possible, with as much continuity as we can manage. And while I would never presume to tell someone how to write or how to play, I do think it would be enjoyble for all of us if we could try to capture the tone and mannerisms of the shows XWP and HTLJ. Which can mean dark violence mixed with slapstick comedy, classical mythological themes tempered with hip anachronistic dialogue, and over-the-top action alternating with tender moments of genuine emotion and feeling.
Remember: Always write in the third person. Instead of "I ride into Poteidaia," you would want to write it as, "Xena rode into to Poteidaia." And it would be helpful to write in paragraph format, rather than write one line, hit "send," write another line, hit "send," etc. That way you can also describe what your character is thinking, what's going on around them, etc. It's also helpful to read *all* the messages in your inbox before going back to reply to the game - you may be able to write only one response that appropriately conveys your character's reactions to 3 or 4 separate messages.
TAKEN CHARACTERS (not including original ones)
MORTALS:
Amarise - Amalthea
Antony - Katie
Autolycus - August
Caesar - Katie
Callisto - Rebecca
Ephiny - Joan
Eponin - Martie
Gabrielle - Pol
Hercules - August (Note: I'm open to passing this character along to someone if they really want him!)
Joxer - August
Nautica - Pol
Nebula - Rynn
Odysseus - Rynn
Penelope - Laura
Salmoneus - Rynn
Xena - Sehena
GODS (from whom you can't hi-iide!):
Artemis - Rebecca
Athena - Rynn
Note - we don't need too many other gods! {see note on gods below}
Original Characters:
Alcina - spunky Ithakan girl - Rebecca
Andromeda - half-Roman girl on a quest - Katie
Chuchulain - nephew of Morrigan - Ben
Diomedes - battle-weary Trojan war veteran - August
Elwar - rogue Amazon - Joan
Kara - escaped slavegirl/gladiator - David
Kimiko - katana-wielding girl of mystery - David
Sabrina - nubile Amazon princess - Sehena
{Click here for details!}
AVAILABLE CHARACTERS:
GOLD = important characters we will need soon, especially for the Ithaka storyline!
Iolaus - everyone's favorite little buddy
Amoria - saucy sauna-takin' Amazon sister who's doin' it for herself (from "Lyre Lyre")
Armand - the warlord's son from "The Convert" and "Animal Attraction"
Cecrops - dreadlocked, until-recently-lost mariner
Darnell - the javelin-throwing expert from "Dirty Half Dozen" who brought
Glaphyra over to the other side, if ya know what I'm sayin' here....
Dirce - bubbly, coiffure-challenged litigator
Draco - the hunky Maori warlord from "Sins of the Past" and "Lyre Lyre"
Flora - aka "The Black Wolf"
Glaphyra - man-hating ex-slaver who can do incredible things with an apple
Jace - Joxer's faux-Latino, transvestite, show-tune-singin' identical brother
Jason - leader of the Argonauts
Jett - their evil assassin triplet
Kao H'sin - one half of every man's fantasy
Pao Su - the other half
Lila - Gabrielle's little sis, and a much under-valued babe
Lysia the Amazon - a dead ringer for Xena, from the original HTLJ TV movie
Princess Diana - a prissy royal version of above
Priestess Leah - a lisping Hestian virgin version of the above
Meg - a slutty version of the above
Mavican - wonder-bra'd would-be successor to Xena
Meleager - the old alcoholic hero from "The Execution" and "The Prodigal"
Minya - warrior thespian
Palaemon - the young wannabe bad guy from "Blind Faith"
Solari - the locksmith's dream from "The Quest"
Talia - that sheriff-chick from Spamona
Tara - annoying brat who turned into a seductive dancer
Toris - Xena's brother, from "Death Mask"
AND WHAT ABOUT THOSE MEMORABLE HTLJ CHARACTERS?
Althea - Hercules' first dance partner, now a fashion designer, and a most under-rated babe
Arciana - the younger sister of the demon Xerxos
Atalanta - the musclebound lady blacksmith and athlete
Aegina - the ex-slavegirl who diverted Hercules from "The Wrong Path"
Cupcake - breathless showgirl with a sweet tooth
Deimos - giggling, beached-blonde, over-acting god of terror
Derk - the assassin with the soft side who gets stranded with Herc and
those flying sand-sharks in "Mercenary"
Derek the centaur - the one who married the bad girl Lyla (played by Lucy Lawless)
Falafel - the peddler/huckster/chef with the bad teeth
Flaxen - King Midas's babelicious daughter
Gladius - the gladiator from the HTLJ ep of the same name
Queen Hippolyta - the Amazon Queen from the original Herc TV movie
Jana - the young mother from "Road to Calydon"
Kayla - the Amazon leader from "Love Amazon Style"
Leya - the faux Hestian Virgin from "Sword of Veracity"
Lilith - the Amazon from the Academy in "Young Hercules"
Lydia - the feisty village maiden from "Pride Comes Before a Brawl"
Luscious DeLuxe - Autolycus' ex-wife who is so busted
Mariah - the would be journalist from "The Lost City"
Princess Melissa - the snooty princess from "War Bride"
Morrigan - diminutive but lethal Celtic demi-god who sounds like she thinks Haircules is tha woon who stole her looky charms.
Nemesis - some-time goddess of retributive justice, and the first love of the young Hercules
Phoebe - the spunky Argonaut's daughter from "Once A Hero"
Queen Niobe - the bride of Iolaus's double Orestes
Seska - illegitimate teenybop daughter of Jason and Lilith
Scilla - the kind-hearted, chesty village maiden in "Eye of the Beholder"
the Widow Twanky - inventor of the Twanky Twiddle; aka Mad Alice Cudlip
And of course original characters are always encouraged!
On non heroic characters: There is definitely a place for characters like Xena's mom Cyrene, Gab's sister Lila, Minya, Falafel, Salmoneus, Meg, etc. We can use the little town of Calydon in Aetolia as the setting for more domestic and comedic plots. I'm hoping that we can establish some standard locales - the local tavern, for example, where characters can meet, trade info, etc.
On dead characters: The freshly dead (Joxer, Ephiny, Amarise, the gods, etc.) aren't. The characters who were introduced in flashback (Borias, Cyane) or died memorably (Marcus, Hope, Solan) are. Maybe if there is a compelling reason to revive someone, we can, but I can't imagine too many compelling reasons. If you want to play Borias, why not let him rest in peace, and you can play his brother Doggiestylius, or a similar original character.
On Gods: Players are limited to one god character max, and then only if it's a somewhat passive god. Let me explain, as I realize that the gods are among the most popular characters. In the first few years of Xena and Herc, the gods only acted indirectly: when Aphrodite cast a spell on Joxer, it was an excuse for a Joxer story. When Ares disguised himself as Xena's father, it was an excuse for a Xena-confronts-her-father story. When Aphrodite gave Iolaus the golden apple, it was an excuse for an Iolaus-pursued-by-enamoured-woman-story, and when Bliss was shooting arrows everywhere, it was an excuse for a comedy about love. When Discord turned Herc into a pig, it was an excuse for a parody on "Babe," plus an excuse for Sorbo to recover from an aneurism. And when Ares was recruiting teen boys to be his soldiers in HTLJ, it was a parable about gangs. And when Artemis put Young Iolaus's consciousness into a deer and vice versa on "Young Herc," it was an excuse for Dean O'Gorman to do wacky physical comedy.
To me that seems more in keeping with mythology, such as the "Odyssey," the "Aeneid," etc. The last couple of years of god activity on XWP, like Aphrodite joining Gabrielle in an oil wrestling match, Ares stabbing Eli, the gods stalking Xena's baby, etc. have just not been real believable to me. After all, if Hera could wipe out Herc's entire family with a lightning bolt, I don't see why they couldn't have done that to Xena and her baby. (Actually I do - it was a plot device to have the baby grow up quickly - and my, how she grew up - rrrrroooowwwlllll !)
So we can have god players, but they need to be doing character-related, plot-development things, not fireballing each other right and left. And there are some gods we just don't need. Zeus for example. Hades, unless we visit the underworld. Poseidon, unless we're in a ship. Hera unless we need to curse someone. The evil and/or mischief-making gods above (Deimos, Discord, Ares, Aphrodite, Cupid) are good plot devices to propel a plot, and have awesome characterizations for us to replicate. But I'm just not sure we need Artemis leading an army of Amazons, or Athena laying siege to a village! Thus, in this game, Athena might best be seen in her "Odyssey" role - quietly imparting wisdom, and Ares would be best suited trying to seduce Xena back over to the dark side, or giving advice to some warlord, or placing some curse that propels a plot, but not really duking it out in battle after battle like Xena or Hercules would.
DISCLAIMER: All of the above is subject to change and
interpretation.
BATTLE ON!
~August~
Note: For a rudimentary update on who's doing what to whom in the game, you may go to http://www.oocities.org/xhlist/plot.update.html.
And here's a quick look at the weather in "Greece:"
