Foreword: This is not meant to be the
end-all, be-all to roleplaying FAQs. There are many versions out there, as many
versions as there are styles of role-play. The definitions and suggestions
listed here will not apply everywhere - or, really, to anywhere else but here.
This is for those that believe they might be interested in playing on Trinity,
but simply don't know where to start. That said, if an important issue isn't
covered here, let me know and I'll be happy to update.
-- Dragon Lady
NOTE: *Pointing to that name above again and
nodding once more* See that Ladies and Gents? That’s riaght *In his famous
Southern Accent* We’re quoting our girl shamelessly yet again! Thanks one more
time Dragon Lady, we’ll look for yah to help the newbie’s on the site. *Chuckles
knowing she’ll stay as far away from everyone as she possibly can*
1. What is role-playing?
The answer to this one will vary widely depending on who you
ask. Almost every gaming book out there (D&D, Vampire: the Masquerade, etc.)
has a section up front addressing this very issue. The difference lies in mood
and theme - while the general definition is always the same, the nuances differ
depending on the motives of the game itself. A game of D&D is played very
differently from Vampire. Incidentally, free-form role-playing has very
different ideals from table-top games. Video game RPGs differ widely from most
computer RPGs, and both of them are a world away from what we do. A full
discourse on the nature of role-playing is beyond the scope of this article, so
I will address only three basic styles:
(A) Role-play Gaming/Table-top gaming:
Generally
based off a book or series of books, this type of gaming revolves around players
making alter-egos with a list of statistics, and with the help of a Storyteller
or Dungeon Master - the person "running" the game that portrays everything but
the characters themselves - they take their characters through a series of
adventures or stories together. Their existence is focused on the rolling of a
bunch of funny-looking dice, which, guided by the statistics the player set at
the start of the game, determines success or failure. It can be likened to
participating in a play where there is no script, only a director that tells you
the consequences of the actions you take. This is what the systems we use (White
Wolf's World of Darkness) are.
(B) Cooperative Role-playing:
This is the type of
role-playing we consider our site to be. While based off the style mentioned
above, we have certain notable changes. While we do use statistics to define a
character's strengths and weaknesses, as well as a guide for resolving a
conflict, a character's life, death, success, and failure does not hinge on a
die roll. Instead, players may work out a scenario ahead of time, deciding what
manner of resolution is best for a story; they work together to develop their
characters and enrich the setting, much like co-authoring a novel. There is no
set storyteller to give direction and portray the world around them, so players
may take it upon themselves to devise plotlines and entice others to play in
them. Depending on one's playing style, cooperative role-play can either be a
series of table-top games going on at the same time, with characters that shift
from story to story, or it can be a literary experiment, where characters have
as much depth and emotion as real people might and stories are often revolved
around inner conflict and personal triumphs rather than gaining power. Nothing
is wrong with either style - I myself have characters on both sides of the
spectrum - as long as the watchword of consent is followed; players are people,
too, and they're spending time playing and having fun. However, a player's right
to fun ends where it infringes on someone else's fun.
(C) Freeform Role-playing:
Even more hands-off
than cooperative role-play, freeform is not based on any statistics (or system
for that matter) or on dice. Players are limited only by their imaginations on
the characters they create, and whatever stories or plots they devise are theirs
alone. Freeforming also allows players to compose their own settings or to run
systems not supported on site; thus being able to act in a Storyteller capacity.
Naturally, the only problem with having no rules is that there's always some
assgoblin incapable of having a good time unless someone else's is being ruined.
So, players have free reign to ignore whoever they want to ignore - whether it's
because of incompatible genres, differing storylines, or simply because the
offending player is an idiot - and those who do not respect that choice and
insist on harassing other players will find themselves banned in short order.
2. Okay, I see what role-playing is. How do you do it
here?
We are a chat-based site, so most of our role-playing is
conducted in chat rooms. These rooms are given names denoting certain places
(for instance, the city of Dallas, or Persephone's Keep), and players log in
under their characters' names. Generally, at least one of the players has a
general idea what the scene will be about (a heated argument, talking about
business, or a clandestine meeting, etc.) and will start the scene with some
type of introduction to both set exact location and his/her character's initial
appearance onstage. Example:
Renee Sebastien:
It's one of those muggy Texas rainy days. Where the sky stays gray,
drizzle patters down intermittently, and the temperature still manages to feel
toasty. Not the best of days to be scouting out the neighborhood or paying
social calls, but a damn fine day to get some things done around the house. Or,
in Dale's case, get some stuff fixed on the ol' set of wheels.
With the garage door open on the old two-story
Victorian, the flashes of breeze cooled by mist aren't too bad, even if the
humidity is ludicrous. Still need to have a fan buzzing in the corner, but it
could be worse. Speaking of which...
In carefully measured maneuvers, Renee
slips out the kitchen door of the packhouse into the adjoining garage, and slips
over the trunk of the car onto the cab. Leaning over, Dale can just see the head
of the wily brunette peering down over the open hood. "Broken anything yet?" She
inquires cheerily. Without waiting for a response, she plops back down where
Dale can't see her. "I'm bored." He hears the creaking of the car as she shifts
her weight, and finally hops down off the vehicle. "Ish is out talking to the
Barons. Again."
The post covers location, character appearance, and sets forth
a 'hook' to begin the scene. It does not, however, force the opposite
character's hand or 'make' something happen. Those are no-no's. Players should
always have control of their characters. All I did in that post was provide
something to work from. Notice the use of third-person view, and prose style of
writing. While there are other styles people use, that one is generally the most
common and easiest to read. Also of note is that while I tend to make lengthy
posts, it's not required to have five paragraphs ready at all times in a scene;
not everyone is a natural wordsmith, nor does everyone have twenty minutes to
spare between posts. The above post could just as easily have read:
Renee Sebastien:
While Dale was out working in the garage of the pack's Victorian
headquarters, Renee slipped out the door to check on him. "I'm bored." She
complained, climbing onto the roof of the cab. Dale could barely see the head of
the wily brunette over the open hood. "Ish is out talking to the Barons. Again."
She shakes her head as she sighs and hops off the car.
And it still conveys basically the same
information. Granted, the first post is filled with more detail and imagery, but
the second is more concise and quicker to write. Sometimes scenes do come down
to efficiency over quality, and certainly not everyone can be a literary giant.
But it's always good to try, as meatier posts are more entertaining to read.
Additionally, the more you put your writing to the test, the better you get at
it. I do have scenes saved from way back that still make me cringe, so everybody
had to start somewhere.
But then the rest of the players will respond in character
with the information they've been given, and the scene goes from there, and
that's how a scene will go until it seems to draw to an end; it's usually pretty
easy to tell, because the characters just run out of things to talk about. Now,
some people will let a scene meander on after the actual 'point' is reached, but
this tends to lead to boredom. Instead, it's usually better to let a scene wrap
at a point where it would seem natural in a story or movie, and if you still
want to role-play, to simply move to a different scene. Stories basically come
down to conflict (not to be confused with combat) and resolution, and as long as
there is a conflict-resolution chain, you should always have something to do.
Though before leaving a scene, always make sure the other player is satisfied
with the wrap-up post - they might have something else in mind to continue with.
No one likes to be left with 'okay, done, see ya' from out of the blue.
There is another method of play we use, though it's optional -
forums. Sometimes you may want to post some things about a character that not
everyone's characters will know, or that simply you don't want anyone else to
participate in. For instance, I use forum posts to convey a variety of
side-sketches - one character may interact with her family in a post, and I may
use another to explore a character's dreams. Forum posts are also handy to share
information that doesn't require its own scene - for instance, sending an e-mail
to another character inviting them to a party. Then the other player may RSVP in
the thread, without doing a full scene, and you can instead focus on the real
event. Sometimes forum threads will resemble scenes as far as the action goes,
but the posts will be much more exploratory, thoughtful, and usually with
multiple points scattered about. These may go back and forth between two
characters for a while, detailing very personal interaction, but this is an
immensely literary style and may not be for everyone's taste.
Another use of the forums is to develop your character even if
there's no one else to play with. If you're on the site alone and don't have any
friends to play with yet, you can do forum posts of what you're character does
in his free time - it gives people an introduction of your character, and maybe
presents an opportunity to bring him into a plot, or, at the very least, lets
them see what you're about. If you don't like writing forum posts, of course,
that'll be hard for you. But nothing improves without practice.
3. So how do I know what to do?
Well, that's largely up to you. If you want to join one of our
settings, the first step is to make a character compatible with the world we've
set forth. Don't make your character as everything you want them to be right at
the start; set goals and motivations. These are what will drive your personal
story. Try and think of any literary character that started right off with all
the power, knowledge, and help he needed; there really aren't any, because
without something to be working for, there's no story. This is especially true
on Trinity, since we don't run site-wide storylines that everyone can get in on
and in which we shuffle PCs through it like cattle. Characters need to have
their own stories, and it's important for players to be willing to participate
in others' storytelling.
But there's a second first step, one you should do as you're
making your character: Make friends. The OOC room, forum, and dramatis personae
with player e-mails are there for reasons - use them. It's not very fun to have
a brand new character and not be able to play because everyone else is uncertain
about you; get to know people first, and odds are you'll have people clamoring
at you to hurry up and finish your character. Get an idea of what kinds of play
people are looking for, and ask around to see if anyone's got a storyline
looking for characters. Work hard to fit into the setting, rather than trying to
force the setting to suit you, and you'll rarely have a problem finding scenes.
So, after all that, you've got some friends, you've got a
setting-consistent character, and you're ready to log into a room. Just type in
your account name and password, your character's name, and maybe put in a
descriptive tag - some people just list their location, some people like song
lyrics appropriate to the character or situation, and others just put in a
cryptic phrase. By this time, you've probably lurked in a few scenes, and should
know how things go - if not, just check out question #2 for posting advice. If
you're the first person in a room, you are the de facto storyteller - other
players coming into the scene will be asking you for location and situation.
This doesn't give you any right to godmode (force anyone's character reactions
beyond your own), but it grants you the ability to make some things happen
within the scene. It could be as complicated as a sudden attack, or as simple as
making a sunny day turn into a torrential downpour. Further advice on
storytelling will be mentioned later.
But what if you're not too big on our settings, and would
rather kick around in the freeform rooms? Well, then it's even less complicated.
There are no sheets to be approved, nor any procedures that must be followed.
Courtesy is expected, and offensive players will not last very long, but beyond
that - cut loose. As long as everyone's having fun, it's okay. There are no hard
and fast rules on posting or interaction, so it's usually a good idea to watch
the flow of a room first before jumping in, and try to mesh. Naturally, if your
character is of a different genre than what's being played or is significantly
jarring with what everyone else is trying to do, don't be offended if you don't
get any attention; the better solution would be to log into another freeform
room, and state what kind of play you're looking for in your tag - for instance,
"cyberpunk wastelands RP" or "elven woods high fantasy" or even "Final Fantasy X
RP" *cringe*. But this way people know what to expect when they join, and you
don't end up with a perplexing clusterfuck of cyborgs meet vampires meet pixies
meet Cloud Strife of FF7 fame.
Here's an exception to 'anything goes' - players are able (and
encouraged) to run their own chronicles of different systems in the freeform
rooms. We have forums designed to make it easier to organize and display
settings and creation rules. Whoever undertakes such a task is the admin of
their setting; unless they specifically say otherwise, always ask for permission
before joining in their chronicle. Make sure you adhere to any character
guidelines they put up. We encourage players to run their own games, so we want
to make sure they are as comfortable as possible in doing so.
Beyond all that, the real "purpose" of this game is to tell a
good story. To do that, just develop a good character; that's where all stories
start.
4. What's this "World of Darkness" and
"Vampire/Werewolf" stuff you keep talking about?
The World of Darkness is a setting designed by White Wolf
Gaming. Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, et al are systems within that setting. In
Vampire, you have rules on playing a (you guessed it) undead bloodsucker. In
Werewolf, you play a... well, really, it's pretty obvious. The World of Darkness
is much like our world, only darker and more sinister; defined as Gothic-Punk.
It's a blend of desperation, hopelessness, and violence. Each system has its own
'place' within the world, and its own origins and politics. There are many
sourcebooks that detail out other things, but you really only need the core book
- the rest can be left to imagination. In fact, WoD games thrive off of filling
in the blanks yourself. It very much encourages creative thought and innovative
gaming. You CAN play without the core book, but it's harder - the easiest thing
is to play a mortal with no special qualities, and turn into something else in
the course of the game; then you can learn as you go. This will probably get
boring, though, as you learn what you're doing, so don't feel bad if you feel
like dropping your 'training wheels' character and making something more
experienced. For information on making a mortal character for this purpose, just
e-mail one of the owners. It's very simple. :)
5. So what marks a 'good character' and a 'good
player' here?
Different sites have different ideals. One place that focuses
on gaining personal power has very different ideas of what a good character is
than, say, a site that focuses on romantic entanglements. We're literary-based,
so some of what we expect should be obvious.
A) Good English! We realize this excludes half the web, but
it's just migraine-inducing to try and read posts from someone without even high
school-level grasp of their native language. You don't have to be a Pulitzer
Prize winner; we're not worried about big words or overcomplicated sentence
structure. We just want readable format (i.e. no huge blocks of text - break
things into paragraphs), reasonable spelling (typos are understandable; no grasp
of vocabulary is not), and at least some understanding of punctuation (commas
are your friends). I am not an English teacher, so I'm really not able to sit
here and give a discourse on proper grammar. I'm happy to give advice if asked
(please, in the form of an e-mail - I don't always have time to explain the uses
of a semicolon in the middle of an AIM conversation) about specific things,
however. The web has numerous resources - www.dictionary.com is something I make
regular use of if I'm not sure I've used a word appropriately or spelled it
right. There are innumerable spell checkers available to catch typos (though
chronically bad spellers may not find it very useful). Finally, do not use web
lingo. I hate web lingo. And I don't mean stuff like 'brb', 'afk', 'lol' - I
personally rarely use abbreviations, but I don't have a knee-jerk reaction to
smite anyone who does. I mean people who can't type "How are you doing today?"
and must instead pretend they've made their own language with 'how r u doin
2day?' I fucking hate that. Is it really so hard to type a few extra letters?
B) We expect a certain level of maturity from players.
'Maturity', in this case, doesn't mean knowing how to describe graphic sex and
violence in posts - it means being able to separate IC from OOC reality. Using
your character as an ego extension is bad. Someone's character falling in love
with yours does not mean there is any out of character romantic inclinations. A
character setting out to ruin your character (whether you let them succeed or
fail) does not mean they are secretly plotting against you OOCly. A character
disliking yours does not mean the player hates you. Similarly, a character
liking yours does not necessarily indicate the player can stand you (though
generally people don't play with people they hate). Always respond IC when
you're in a scene; think of what your character would do, not what YOU would do;
if you're taking what's happening in a scene to a point that YOU, the player,
start to feel really upset or angry, then you should probably leave and calm
down. It doesn't always mean you're a bad player - *I* see things sometimes that
drive me nuts - but it DOES mean you need to remove yourself from the scene, and
either work something out with the person that bothers you, or avoid play with
them. Reason being is that if you are feeling a serious response to something
out of character, it will carry over into your role-play - and it can lead to
grudges, personal attacks, and storyline collapsing. The most you should feel in
response to a scene is nothing more than from reading a good book. It might get
your blood going, it might make your eyes water, but you don't feel like you're
coming under personal attack.
On the other hand, remember that what you know
is not what your character knows. Just because you don't like what someone's
character did in some private forum post doesn't give your character any
realistic ground to suddenly not like them. What you know OOC, stays OOC. The
worst thing a player can do is use their IC posts as a rant outlet, using other
characters' thought posts, histories, and player OOC commentaries to either slam
the people they don't like, or else come off as being all-knowing. Using OOC
info that your character could not possibly know is amateurish at best, and
childish at worst. There is such a thing as an omniscient viewpoint, however,
often used for storytelling purposes - for instance, if you are running a story
that will have things resonating strongly with another character's past,
narrative comments relating back to it are fine. Having your character say
anything or act on this information is the no-no. They don't know it. You, the
player and sometimes the narrator, do. There is also such a thing as benign
ignorance - where, for dramatic purposes, you work out IC reasons to discover
OOC knowledge. An
example, borrowed and altered from an old D&D handbook:
Leon's been beaten half to death and dumped in an alley among trashbags; he
can't move and can barely breathe, and his attackers will be back soon to do
even worse to him. His friends, Marie and Harry, are near the mouth of the
alley, and are wondering where he is. They were supposed to meet, but they don't
know about anything bad that would happen to him - they actually think he ran
off with some girl. Leon can hear them talking, but isn't strong enough to call
out to them. The pair is talking about where to go from here, and Marie finishes
off a bottle of soda she's drinking. She tosses the empty bottle behind her into
the alley among the trashbags, and it lands on Leon. He manages to groan. Marie
thinks it sounds like a sick cat, and they both look closer down the alleyway -
and happen to spot a pale hand against the black bags.
That's an example of a good way to handle a situation with IC
knowledge without just having to abandon a scene. Here's an example of what not
to do:
Leon's laying in the alley, beaten half to death, but fortunately he
doesn't have to wait there long. His friends Marie and Harry come onto the scene
by the bar, and immediately go around to the back and search for him in the
trash. Luckily, when they find him, Marie had also decided to bring her medical
kit with her on this barhopping venture.
It just doesn't make sense. Would it make sense to you if you
read it in a story? If not, then it doesn't make sense here.
C) We want players that see role-playing as a cooperative, not
competitive, experience. We don't follow the line of thinking of 'he with the
most dice, wins'. We don't want people that think there is such a thing as
winning here - you can't flex any form of superiority over anyone else unless
they decide to let you, so what's the point in trying to force it? Use all the
energy spent planning strategies and plotting your points and put it towards
talking to players instead; make some friends, come up with some cool storylines
together. You don't win a badge for killing the most PCs; you earn respect by
being fun to role-play with and by enriching others' time. Honestly, if you need
a kill count to feel like your character's worth a damn? There are plenty games
out there to accommodate that need. This isn't a place for any nonsense about
being the best at something - except for maybe best stories. That's not going to
fit in with everyone's idea of role-playing, and that's alright. We want people
to have fun, and if that means going to another site, fine by us. We want
quality, not quantity.
D) We want self-motivated players. People who log in for four
hours of nothing but *sips coffee and watches silently* are fucking dull.
They're riding the coat-tails of people who actually know what they're doing.
This works in places where storytellers dedicate a hefty portion of their time,
energy, and sanity into the thankless job of creating and running storylines and
conflicts for characters to jump into. Stuff happens around you even if you do
nothing but sit on your ass. Understand something: we're not storytellers. If
you want something to happen, you have to organize it. If all you want to do is
watch scenes play out like a movie and be entertained, then please lurk. Don't
make people think you might be worth having in a scene when, really, you're not.
E) Take responsibility for yourself. Don't use the IC/OOC
distinction as an excuse to be an asshole. If you do something IC that upsets
someone, deal with the likely consequences - don't just say 'well, it was my
character, not me'. Saying 'keep it in character' doesn't work; problems should
always be worked out between players. It doesn't mean that someone getting upset
is your fault - people DO go off the handle at weird things. But if it happens,
it's up to you to be the responsible one and handle it; keep cool, ask them what
upset them and why. Explain why your character did what he did. Let them explain
where they think they're being screwed. Usually, just talking things over like
that helps matters immensely - it becomes clear pretty fast what's needed to fix
a situation. If something happened that they just can't get over (unlikely,
given the consent rules in place), then don't make an issue. Just respectfully
leave the scene and avoid play with them in the future. We're not here to force
people who don't get along to play nice with each other. Sometimes mutual
avoidance is the best policy. Similarly, if you agree to an IC conflict and get
your ass handed to you, it's no one's fault but your own. If you don't want the
risk, don't get involved. Additionally, don't take a coward's route if things
don't go the way you planned; you're fully entitled to leave a storyline you're
not enjoying, but help out the player running it - give them something to work
off of for your character's exit. If you just leave, give them nothing, and tell
them to 'figure it out', don't go back later and complain you don't like how
they took you out of the story. Yes, we have a rule of consent in place; it
extends about as far as to the point where you basically hand over consent of
your character to someone else.
F) In characters, we enjoy seeing something plausible.
Dramatic characters are never wholly realistic, especially when you're
portraying a vampire or somesuch, but they aren't too far gone either. They have
flaws, motivations, goals, strengths, preferences, dislikes, bad memories, good
memories, mistakes, and triumphs - just like anybody. They were little kids once
with parents and they wanted to be firemen, astronauts, actors, Superman, James
Bond, or Barbie. They had a life before they became a killer katana-wielding
psychopath bloodsucker. All dots are is a visual representation of the strengths
and weaknesses you decide; in the long run, no one's going to care about the
dude with Melee 4. They're gonna remember a player that spent a week agonizing
over a character's task to write a poem for someone's funeral, who got it down
right and moved characters (and possibly players) to tears. It's also fun to
remember the klutz that trips over his shoelaces, drops glasses on characters'
laps, and has tumbled down a flight of stairs at least once a week. A good way
of spotting plausible characters is to study others; for instance, all my
characters have one major strength - their saving grace - and it is matched by
one major weakness - their tragic flaw. They have other things they're pretty
good at or kinda bad at, but it takes a backseat to the two forces fighting for
dominance. Naturally, younger characters are still finding their strengths and
weaknesses; your average teenager may have potential, but they're generally
mediocre at everything for a few more years.
G) Another thing we like in characters is depth; we like
having our characters (and seeing others) grow over time. Learn new things and
change. Characters that stay the same from the time they were created are
missing the whole point of storytelling; no protagonist, over the course of any
book or movie, stayed precisely the same. Don't be afraid to have characters
fail, and don't shy away from putting them through hell to have them develop a
certain way. If you let them, characters tend to develop all on their own, and
you'll be surprised what you find yourself writing - it's like they take over
themselves at times. Writers have it happen all the time - characters do the
unexpected, and it works because it suits them. I know of stories that had to be
completely redone after a certain point, because the main character wanted to go
a certain way, and just wouldn't "fit" into any other path the author tried to
nudge her into. To reiterate what I said earlier, good characters are the key to
good storytelling. Because if you can do the former, the latter happens on its
own.
Just follow the advice above, and you'll be on the road to avoiding a
lot of common pitfalls of new (and just bad) role-players.
6. So what about storytelling? Got any advice there?
Sure. Storytelling's easy, if you just remember a few basic
guidelines.
A) Remember that in your story, you are a god. If you say it's
raining, then it's just fuckin' raining, and some character's perfect hairstyle
can get ruined all damn day - shoulda brought an umbrella. Once you get over the
power trip, also remember that you are expected to use your position responsibly
- that is, just because a player consented to have their character in your
storyline does not mean they consented to be repeatedly struck by lightning. And
then abducted by Ewoks. But if you decide a barfight breaks out, then one breaks
out; it's up to the characters what they do then, and you should work closely
with them to determine the outcome. But, generally, you are in control of the
setting when you're running the story - be able to notice when you're abusing
that control, but also don't be so wishy-washy as to let players take it from
you and tell you how to run your story.
B) Always give players an idea of what to expect; not
everybody daydreams about being swept up in a star-crossed love story, nor being
buried to the knee in the fallen bodies of their enemies. Surprises are fine -
you don't have to give everything away at once, but too much surprise equals out
to players wondering why they're wasting their time here. It sucks to get hyped
up and involved in a story only to find out you're really not interested.
Similarly, even while the story's underway, work closely OOC with players to
keep a flow of input and interest generated. Let them come up with ideas of what
should happen, and be willing to alter things appropriately if you like what
they have to say. Also be willing to adjust if they're not having much fun.
STing is a thankless job at times, but the good ones are never short of friends
or scenes.
C) Don't fear the setting. We set it up to be used. We're not
gonna spam you with e-mails about how you did not portray something in the
perfect image we had in our minds. As long as you aren't obviously exploiting
anything (like wiping out NPCs or having them give you lots of items you
shouldn't have), you're free to use the settings as you choose. The way we've
set things up, few things are out of the realm of possibility; and if you're
wondering if something is too severe a change, just ask. Hell, if we like it, we
might let you go ahead with it anyway. Just try to stay consistent with the mood
and ideas we've put into place, and you'll be fine.
D) As far as coming up with storylines, think beyond tossing
PCs against 'X' age-old enemy. Plotlines revolve around conflict and resolution.
However, you don't always need combat to have a good story. Chess games are
conflict. Scavenger Hunts are conflict. Relationships are conflict *ducks*. As
long as players are striving towards something, you've got a story. Sometimes a
storyline will be very small - the person running it and one character, with
maybe a small host of supporting characters. Sometimes the plot'll be huge,
involving almost everyone on-site. It just depends on where you wanna go with
it. Also, take consequences into consideration, especially if you start hitting
a creative dead-end - what have the PCs done that could affect the present?
Using the barfight example above, the players won't necessarily win; after all,
a Garou can't just pop claws and go to town, and a Vampire can't just start
biting people and zipping around at supernatural speeds. Imagine the
embarrassment of a Brujah tough or a werewolf if they managed to get beaten down
by a mob of mere mortals; on the flip side, what would happen if they frenzied?
Or if they came out on top of the fight, and got approached by a talent scout?
Or hunted for some payback? Simple things can become very complicated with the
right amount of plotting.
E) Have the reward equal the risk; not just bodily harm, but
also if a character risked loss of money, status, friends, sanity, or
innumerable other things. Remember also that characters with endless streams of
successes learn very different things than someone who fails frequently. As an
example, a character that practically breezed through difficult situations may
be granted tangible awards IC - such as status, money, or some other thing. But
the character that was allowed to fail and be showed up receives the lion's
share of experience. We are forged by the fires that make us, after all. :)
F) If you happen to be playing a character and running a
storyline, be sure to keep the two separate. In fact, it's not a bad idea to run
your first few plotlines for other people without involving your character; it
allows you to focus on storytelling, and you don't have to worry about using too
much knowledge. Don't just use your character as the hero to plow through the
story while the other players plod along in his wake. Give your characters as
many troubles (if not moreso) than the other characters are given, and avoid
using them only as plot devices. It's an easy thing to do - I've lapsed into it
several times myself.
G) Set expectations. When you announce you're running a story,
be upfront about what kinds of characters you want, and what kinds you
definitely don't want. Be firm about having that decision respected. Don't feel
obligated to take on any more players than you feel you can handle. Don't feel
like you have to accept players you don't want to play with - be polite, but
direct. They will either handle the decision well and let it alone, or they will
be jackasses and get themselves banned. It's your story, and you should be
having fun, too.