This document has a lot of information. This section lists the info it contains.

1. General Q&A
   • What type of roleplay is Mobius RP?
   • What is a pose?
   • How long do poses have to be and how long do I have to write them?
   • Am I allowed to double post or break the turn order when roleplaying?
   • How good should my spelling/grammar be?
   • When do you roleplay?
   • How often do you roleplay?
   • Why is the room so quiet?
   • Where do you roleplay?
   • What is the #mobius_ooc channel used for?
   • Why is the channel constantly IC if nothing is going on?
   • How do I start up a scene?
   • I can't think of any ideas for a scene, what should I do?
   • How do I get involved with the main story?
   • I have an idea for a character plot, how do I get it started?
   • Where does the majority of the roleplay take place?
   • How is my character expected to travel all over the continent to meet other characters?
   • What is the policy on playing NPCs?
   • Can I enter into a scene that is already happening?
   • My character is frozen in a scene, how/when can I get out?
   • I want to play a Feature Character, but the storyline here is confusing. How do I adapt it to fit this RP's canon?
   • I'm currently playing a Feature Character that has appeared in the RP before, how do I handle his/her past roleplay history?
   • Looking back, I have a problem with (x issue) in my bio. Can I change it?
   • Am I allowed to link fanart as a Feature Character's picture?
   • I'm too occupied in real life to keep up with major roleplay events, am I still eligible to play here?
   • I have a problem with a roleplay situation or one of the players, what should I do?
   • I'm roleplaying in a fight scene and someone is powergaming, what should I do?
   • I dislike one of your rules and don't want to follow that rule.
2. Character Creation Guide
3. Sonic Canon in MRP
4. Extreme Gears
5. Professor Dranar's RP Fighting 101
6. Scene Freezing Guide
7. Dragon History: A Primer (By Dranar)

So you want to make a bio. Great! Bios, especially your first one, add to the roleplaying atmosphere of Mobius Roleplay. But first, you have to do a couple of things to make sure it'll fit. Think of it as paperwork. The first set of things you must do are mostly reading a few things.

Preparation

A lot of people skip this step, but they wind up having to do it anyway. It's real simple. First thing, is your character a Feature Character or Original Character? Feature Characters are characters such as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and comic characters like Kragok and Scourge. Original Characters are made up just by you, and have not existed in the Sonic world prior to you creating them. An Original Character can just skip the next two paragraphs; but for a Feature character, a number of considerations must be made. Also note, you can only have two Feature characters in your possession at one time, tops.

Feature Characters Only: First, who's the character? What canon do they come from? There's a number of 'canons' or, in layman's terms, 'media types' they come from. Number one on the list is SEGA games: if the character generally appears in a game or you're using their game background, then you're using this canon. Now here's the problem--games made after Sonic Heroes don't really apply to MobiusRP anymore, so you'll want to avoid mentioning them in your backstory. But if you have a newer character made AFTER Sonic Heroes, you'll need to get special GM permission to make them. Next up, we have the comics. There's a lot of comics, and I don't particularly remember them all, but here's the info: comic characters all have to be adapted to fit the RP because there is no Knothole and there is no alternate dimension stuff going on. So when you get the itching to write some magical character from the comicverse, just know that their powers aren't likely to survive the bio approval process intact.

Feature Characters Only: Next, and most important, is concerns about roleplaying. Have you been roleplaying a while? Do you have a semi-decent ability to separate characters from yourself? Do you understand the character you're apping enough to properly run them? In the past, many FCs were played up like they were just costumes for their player to wear. These FCs then contributed to a lot of weirdness which derailed an entire set of FCs, and wound up in their collective fates being reset so new players wouldn't have to learn an alternate history of Sonic just to play. Thus, if you have some idea where Tails becomes a hermit living under a bridge or Rouge suddenly becomes moralistic, you'll want to shelve that. While slight deviations can and will happen, if you can't properly roleplay the FC, it will be rejected.

Now, of course, your character will be in our world of Mobius, so you'll need to prepare by studying this world. While this isn't schoolwork, your bio WILL reflect how much you have looked at our vast array of data, so without adieu, here is the important stuff:

• The Rules - While not directly useful for making a character, they'll help warn you against behaviors which will get you banned. Since you can't have a character if you're banned, this may be good to read if you feel like you're walking on eggshells, or have no clue why people are being annoyed by your behavior. Also notes how you shouldn't bug GMs to look at your bio.
• Get on IRC - This may be the most important part of all. The IRC room is of infinite use to someone trying to app a bio. Many times we won't accept a bio unless we know you're on the IRC. So get on the IRC, if you wish to help ensure your bio being approved. Just note--sometimes it is in IC mode, and in that case, you should join both #mobius and #mobius_ooc .
• Canon Info - Says which games are canon. Not 100% updated all the time, but basically, if it isn't in this list, and you want to include it in your backstory, you should ask about it.
• The Map - Shows what zones are in the game. You'll be using these to help determine where things are. You CAN add new zones in your bio, but no more than 2, and only if they make sense.
• The Story - Gives you a rough idea of the overall RP backstory. Note that these events are fairly old, and nothing that gets written in here is actually recent.
• The Logs - Contains not only a selection of logs from recent scenes, but also important information concerning history that should give you a better idea of what's going on now, but be warned that the age of the logs posted varies.
• The Factions - A list of the current factions in MRP. You get to pick one of these during character creation, so it'd probably be good to read up and see if your character would fit in any of these.

Now that you've either read all of that, skimmed it, or even just picked a couple to read, you're ready to go on to the next step. Just keep in mind that you may be going back to these documents while making your bio--there's all kinds of little issues to check when making any bio, after all. Also, please do this step in a text editor first--the bio system is not there for you to submit an unfinished bio to. It is meant for finished products only.

Writing the Bio

Should be a piece of cake, right? Well, it might be, or it might not. The first thing of note is that you have to write a certain length for certain sections to get in. This was implemented to stop spammers from spamming junk bios at us, but it also makes each bio have to have a certain amount of detail to it. There's some other filters as well, so don't try to get around them--bios which try that usually get deleted. Although occasionally, bios set off the filters by accident--please tell us if that happens. Now, I'll go into the bio writing process, step by step. Of course, for brevity's sake, I will only explain the complex segments to you--simple fields like 'hair' need no explanation.

Character's Name: Just plunk a name in here. Don't make it too long or wacky, though.

Type: FC or OC. Pick the one which makes sense. For example, Sonic is an FC, but *Insert your name* the whatever is an OC.

Height: Just a note; Mobians average 3'5", while humans average in the 5-6 foot range.

Alignment: Lots of fun choices here. This doesn't have to fit 100%, but it's basically a hint at your character's overall personality. I've included a list of descriptions so it makes more sense.

• Chaotic Evil - A villain bent on causing evil to everybody they encounter, including other villains. They also dislike law and order, destroying that whenever they encounter it.
• Chaotic Good - A revolutionary figure who fights for principles of good--regardless of what laws are in the way. The archnemesis of, say, evil lawyers. They also generally run afoul of royalty, at least the corrupt kind.
• Chaotic Neutral - Unpredictable people who tend to go whichever way they feel is right, regardless of the consequences. Good, evil, it's all the same to them--they just do what they feel like. Bounty hunters, mercenaries, etc. tend to have alignments like this.
• Lawful Evil - A vile being who chooses to play by the rules when being evil--two possibilities. Either they have their own moral code for their evil, or they subvert existing laws to excuse their evil. Vigilantes and corrupt policemen are good examples of these. This may be subjective--be sure to choose based on what YOU think is right, not how others will see the character.
• Lawful Good - A good citizen who upholds the law, and fights for the spirit of it as well, at least the good ones. The true policeman of the bunch.
• Lawful Neutral - Those who believe in the law foremost. Played mildly, it's a civilian or an honest policeman. Played a bit heavier, and you get paladin-like law-worshipers, who go as far as necessary to enforce their 'laws', even if those laws might contradict a little with the established ones.
• Neutral Evil - An evil person who is not picky in their victims. Your traditional villain.
• Neutral Good - A good person who does so regardless of law or chaos, and simply out of the good of their heart. Typical hero alignment.
• Neutral Neutral - Switzerland. A self-concerned type of person who acts regardless of the morality, good or bad. They only care about their thoughts, yet are not evil, good, lawful, or chaotic. They just do their thing. Often are mercenaries.

Faction: More fun choices. This time, I can't list 'em here, but rather, they're over at the Factions Page. Your character can be in any one of these factions, but note that they must have a backstory which is compatible with the faction. A compatible personality and/or alignment may also be needed. Some other special precautions to be noted are that GUN won't accept any mad scientists or illegal law-breaking types any more than Eggman wants someone to try and preach the tenets of goodness to him. Also, FCs can only really go into factions where they have been historically or where it makes explicit sense, so be careful with this. And don't assume your character is a high rank in the faction--your character will probably have to work their way up.

Appearance: One of the more important bio fields. You need a minimum of 400 characters (that's 400 letters and numbers, not including spaces) to get into the system at all. What does this mean? Your character's physical makeup, the sound of their voice, how they move, and their common clothes/tools should be described here. A poorly described character cannot really be made sense of in the minds of other roleplayers, so, that's why this is so important. Also, having a picture does not excuse you from this field; it must be fully done. Shooting for the minimum will simply get your bio rejected. Similarly, saying 'Like Sonic' is not a description, and will not count towards your bio being approved.

Personality: Another big field. This requires 350 characters. Again, describe many things--different moods your character tends to be in, the behavior which flavors their actions, and how they make choices. Again, shooting for the minimum is not going to serve you well. Additionally, no one is 'mysterious' to the extent that these bios cannot tell something about their personality. Everyone has one, whether or not they want it. Even machines have quirks to them--or, alternatively, their lack of a normal personality is a personality unto itself. A final note--be careful with nasty or evil personalities. Your character WILL become hated for it, and you WILL wind up roleplaying the aftermath. You can and should write these if the character requires it, but just be prepared.

Backstory: This one is the mother lode, folks. The most important single field in the bio. While you can post only 200 characters and get it through, it won't last long under scrutiny if you do. The field is simple in execution--just write everything you know about your character's history in it. But wait, there's more to think about. First thing, if your character is one you used elsewhere, don't bring the old backstory in, as it won't fit. Adapt it to fit, yes, but don't copy paste it in and expect it to work. Next, your backstory has to respect the canon of this place. Look up and read all the canon and story information again if you're not sure--it'll help a massive amount.

Backstory, Cont: Once you have that in mind, then remember what faction you're applying for, and who they dislike. GUN, for example, dislikes criminals, so your character shouldn't be one if they expect to join GUN. There's also some canon-specific issues not mentioned anywhere else, which will be noted here. First, don't apply any more GUN experiments--there aren't any left. In the game, all the ones which were ever made have already been found, and GUN isn't making any more. On the other hand, the less moral factions out there might work for it. Another thing to avoid is randomly killing off your character's parents: if they have no real parents, how do they learn anything? How can they act normal when they have such a gruesome event on their conscience? They can't, most of the time, and assuming your character can just ignore that will just annoy the other players.

Backstory, Cont: Some other considerations go in here. Your character's backstory can't be an all-positive narrative which screams "I AM THE BEST EVER AND WILL PWNZ JOO" because, well, it's obvious. Nobody's number one in MobiusRP's world, at least, not everywhere. Another thing to avoid is linking your character to other characters or organizations without permission first--saying your character was Sonic's best friend without making some reason they haven't appeared until now is doubly bad. For your character cannot drastically change the world of MobiusRP just by appearing--the technology and knowledge they have must be justified, and if it is brand new, there must be a reason it was never seen until now.

Backstory, Cont: This is getting a bit long, but, here's the rest of the considerations. As much as you may think it is cool, having a character that learns from an old master like Karate Kid is so overdone that doing it will actually go a long ways towards making the other fighting characters think your character can't fight. In the world of MobiusRP, there have been too many of these, and adding any more will just work to your character's detriment, UNLESS you have some new and original twist which is not boring or predictable. Another big thing to avoid is creating huge new factions or villains just around your character--unless you have GM permission, you simply aren't allowed to do that. Finally, if you work in old events, you'll want a character who's kinda old, as those events happened a while ago.

Residence: A nice little field to put where your character lives. Only use it if they have a residence, otherwise leave it empty.

Abilities: This one gets a bit tricky. First thing, there's a number of abilities your character can't have: chaos control, magical powers, time travel, teleportation, mind control which automatically works even if the target is resistant, and anything else too close to those. The next part is that your character's abilities don't all have to be fighting, and can include modest things like cooking. Finally, having a zillion abilities is against the rules and unfair--while Sir Swiss Army Knife may be able to unlock all doors, draw a sketch of someone he saw for one fourth of a second, and shoot someone while stabbing them and doing a Judo move, no one else will be interested in being remotely near such a show-off. Oh, and if your bio has more ability info than everything else... you may want to stop writing the bio immediately, as that's generally a very bad omen and indicates you should talk your entire concept over with the GMs first.

Strengths/Weaknesses: These are for little one-liner things about your character. If you feel they would be good to add, do so, but you don't have to. Also, this field should not just duplicate the ability field--we don't need to see the exact same thing twice. This field can sometimes help in showing when you have too many negatives or too many positives on a character bio.

Custom Fields: We miss something you have to add? Put it in these. Note that duplicating pre-existing fields in these is redundant... naturally. Also, having a 'Super Form' field is frowned upon, as odds are your character will NEVER touch more than one Chaos Emerald, let alone all of them.

Comments: Anything else we need to know, like, how you got the bio, the history of the character's use outside MRP, art permissions, etc.

Checking Before Submitting

So you have a bio. But that's not the end of the process! Yes, before you send in the bio, there are some more concerns to address. First one is PURPOSE. What is your character's meaning for existence? What is their overall goal? What kind of scenes will they get? If you can't fill this out in your head, then you're not going to be able to find many scenes after being approved, and all this work will be in vain.

Then you should think of WRITING QUALITY. We want bios which are easy to read, so please make your text in paragraphs instead of giant blocks. Also, constant misspelling in your bio or later on in your roleplaying will get you in trouble--this place is supposed to be literate to an extent. It's hard to get into a story where no one capitalizes words and all the punctuation is randomly thrown out the window.

When you have that in mind, another thing comes to mind--ENTERTAINMENT. You can have the nicest looking bio in the bunch, but if your character bores you, it doesn't matter. Make sure to throw in some traits which may help you get scenes, or make it interesting for others to see your character. After all, the name of the game is to have fun.

Finally, when you've got the lesser concerns done, you might want to make sure your character is MEMORABLE, as many characters come and go, but a truly well-done character will often burn its presence into history rather than become a featureless part of it.

Changing the Bio and GM Feedback

Once it's submitted, the GMs will check it over. If it's cool enough to approve instantly, they'll do that. But in most cases, it'll need some changes. The GMs will make comments, and you'll be told to change certain aspects which clash with the above rules and other issues which may come up. In this situation, you may change the things mentioned, or wait for other GMs to check it and go with what they say instead. You need 3 positive votes if it's an FC, and 2 if it's an OC, so remember not to alienate all the GMs--especially since only 3 of them are likely to be active at one time. And don't bug them to look at the bio--otherwise your bio's voting will just be put off entirely.

Finally, be timely in updating your bio once they comment, as otherwise it may be marked as inactive and deleted; your bio's supposed to be more or less finished when you upload it, so, keep this in mind. Then, with enough luck and skill, you will eventually get an approved bio. You may have some difficulty at first, but keep at it--eventually if you keep trying and learning from your mistakes, you'll get one through.

Some Additional Considerations

Even after apping a bio, or before apping another one, there's some things you should know about. First, apping one bio after another with the intent to create a huge forest of characters for you to play will just bog you down and prevent you from developing any of the characters individually. Another thing to consider is NPCs and inter-character relations. The rule of thumb is no NPC should be used in a way that would make them readily confused with a player character. This includes consistently getting scenes for this character and only this character (the person they're linked to being nowhere to be found), having them repeatedly pop up in every single scene with the original character (such that they may even overshadow the character they're supposed to be in the shadow of) and otherwise treating them as an exclusive character.

Inter-character relations is another biggie. Simply put, you cannot app two characters which clash with one another. By clash, I mean that they would be indispensible to eachother's backstory, like Sonic and Tails (as friends), or Sonic and Eggman (as enemies). Whether they be an OC or an FC, if they clash, you can't have both of them; only one or the other.

Another problem I see commonly is some nifty ideas people add to their bio without realizing the real consequences of those ideas. For example, many people may think at one time or another that having a split personality is great. They then proceed to play both personalities for their good sides, and ignore their character's bad sides. So, instead of playing a truly split mind, they are simply playing a double-sided Mary Sue. This wears on most people and gets the person's character branded as some sort of weirdo; thus, the player usually drops one of the personalities, or makes one of them into another character.

Having seen so many of them wind up like this, however, I suggest the would-be bio maker only include a split personality if they are prepared to have it switch entirely at random (perhaps a coinflip before each scene) and have negative traits as well as positive ones to each side. While this idea can be pulled off, it is rare that anyone WANTS to use it once they've found out the truth.

Another favorite of the bio makers I've seen is to make their character isolated from the main canon and live in some sort of niche or group/culture which has, until their first appearance, been mysterious to everyone else. This idea, done well, can be very cool, but comes with a number of issues. First, the new world niche must be sufficiently hidden, and two, it shouldn't drastically unbalance the current world order. Thirdly, it must be approved by the GMs. Finally, you should know this sort of backstory has a way of isolating your character from others due to a lack of a common culture, so you should be ready to address this.

The last thing I'll mention is just some ideas which should be obviously problematic, but you might not think are problems due to being in the moment and thinking creatively and such. The first is time travelers: while you might be able to justify them, or claim they came from another time, the breaking up of time by their existence basically unravels the plot. Only time traveling explicitly planned and executed by the GMs is allowed.

Another issue is sophisticated robot characters and supertech. This world's tech is only light scifi--you can obtain laser guns and genetic modification does happen, but nanite-based machines beyond mindless drones are impossible, intergalactic space ships don't exist, and full on cyborgs are rare and experimental. Roboticization has been outlawed by all the powers that be after a scientist named Dongle used it for evil, and mind-control tech followed it into the garbage bin after a group named Klein Toys almost took over the world with it.

Conclusion

Above all, stay calm, and be ready to rewrite and edit your bio constantly. Even when you've got an apped bio, you can update it, and as time goes on, your old character may need to adjust to current times. Don't worry--if you need to change something major, just ask the GMs. Alternatively, if the GMs find you need to change something later, they'll tell you first. And remember: not all characters are useful forever. If you find yourself done with a character or, heaven forbid, MobiusRP itself, and you've used the character a good deal, try setting it to Inactive rather than deleting it outright--you'll find it much easier to pick the character back up, should you change your mind.

So, with that in mind, good luck on creating your character.

The following are a list of unofficial rules for fighting. Some of them take after the rules already in place, the rest are there to help make a fight scene more enjoyable for not only the participants, but also the audience as well. I figure that as a GM, I should share my experience and insight with the rest of the RP on this. I would also like to thank Pinion, Silver, and Metal Man for their help reviewing and suggesting additions to this guide.

Rule 1: Do Not Enter a Fight Scene Expecting to Win.

This one is simple enough, and yet I believe it’s the most important rule to note… when going into a fight scene and looking at the characters involved… don’t automatically assume that your character will win. It doesn’t matter if you think your character is better, if their cause is more just, if them winning moves the plot in the way you want to, or anything else. The point of RPing is not to win fights, but to play out the character as he/she/it would act. If that means that they end up winning the fight, well, that’s a bonus.

The major problem with going into a fight expecting a win is that you start steering your character towards that “inevitable” victory… even if it doesn’t make any sense from an IC perspective. For example: a character suddenly recovering from their wounds or suddenly not taking any damage at all. It detracts from the experience and tends to make things seem… screwey.

For a more illustrated example, let’s take a potential fight between Dranar and Evil Debt. Dranar is trying to break into one of Eggman’s bases, and Evil Debt caught on and is trying to stop him. But what’s this? Dranar’s seemingly able to dodge pretty much every attack, just because his player wants to have his character get into the base! That, ladies and gentlemen… is bad RPing.



Rule 2: Know Thy Enemy, Know Thyself.

Before you get too far into a fight scene, it’s important to look at who is fighting. This allows you to understand how the general flow of the fight will go. Yes, I realize that this seems to contradict my previous rule, but… well, hopefully the difference will become apparent. In general, it’s good to look at the overall fighting style of the character, as well as their physical characteristics. For example: Does the character use a weapon? How good are they with it? What seems to be their primary ability: Speed, Strength, Stamina, Durability, Technique, etc…?

To extrapolate this further, let’s look at an example scenario. We’ll take Snapback, a very acrobatic character, versus Arilla, a large and powerful character. While it’s hard to guess who would win, we can predict how at least some of the fight will go. Given Snapback’s better speed and agility, it’s easy enough to predict that Arilla will have a harder time hitting him, while at the same time, her size and slowness makes her a bit of a sitting duck. Conversely… Snapback isn’t going to be able to do that much damage to Arilla, while the large orca is likely to take the poor chap’s head off with a good firm punch. From here, you can get a feel for certain things, like how well your character would be able to dodge, and how hurt they would be when hit. I should note, though, that while this is a good benchmark, ultimately whether or not your character can dodge is based upon the actions that both characters are performing at the same time.


Rule 3: Everybody has a Weakness.

Another reason to look at the bios is to look at the weaknesses of the characters, both your opponent’s and your own. While most bios have a nice little section stating weaknesses, there are always those which aren’t quite so explicitly stated. Most of these are common sense, though. Guns only have so many bullets, reloading takes up time, using special abilities or just fighting really hard in general will wear your character out, whether or not they’re winning. Things like that.

Another thing to keep in mind is that weaknesses are -always- in play. It doesn’t matter if the opponent’s character comes upon it through shrewd deduction or dumb luck… it’ll hurt. For example, if two characters are fighting in a factory, there are a number of ways that weaknesses that could come into play. If a character is afraid of heights and the fight moves to a walkway high above the factory floor, they’ll obviously be shaken. Conversely, the factory might process something that one of the characters is allergic to, and so that weakness may come into play as well.


Rule 4: The Devil’s in the Details.

This is an important general rule, but it becomes even more important during a fight scene. Because of how involved the two fighters are with each other, it’s very important to know exactly what the other character is doing, such as which direction they are dodging to or attacking from and what position/stance they are in, since that’s how you will determine what your character will do in response. It is also important to make note of other things, such as items in the area, and where your character is or is trying to go within the area, as these things very well may come up, depending on who is fighting whom. This not only enhances the quality of the fighting, as it means that the moves will start to make more sense, but also because it helps create a richer experience for not only the involved players, but also the players who may be watching.

Let’s look at an example. In this example, Dranar and Guide are fighting inside of a building.

*Dranar shoots out a low kick at Guide’s knees.*

*Guide flips back onto a chair, jumping over Dranar’s kick with a smirk.* “Nice try.”

“Try this!” *Dranar hops forward onto the kicked foot and shoots out a higher kick at Guide’s chest.*

This isn’t very interesting to look at, now is it? Little is known about the area, or the moves being used. From a player standpoint, it’s also hard to tell what each side is actually doing other than the general sense. Let’s look at a better example.

In this example, Dranar and Guide are once again fighting in the building, but this time, we know that they’re on the third floor of an office building, thanks to better details.

*Dranar grabs the wall of the cubicle Guide had cornered him in and swings himself forward with both arms, trying to hit Guide low in the knees with both feet as he comes around.*

*Guide grins and leaps up, backflipping onto one of those rolling swivel chairs, the chair slowly starting to spin and tilt back under his weight. He quickly starts to work his arms and leg out and around, trying to keep his balance.*

*Dranar finishes the swing and clings to the edge of the cubicle, his feet on the wall. He glances up with a grimace from the effort and notices the flailing rabbit and lets go of the edge of the wall, pushing off with his legs in a powerful launch. He slams his shoulder into the back of the chair as it spins around to try and send it flying.*

*And flying it goes…* “Waaaaah!” *And there goes Guide with it as it goes careening down the hallway until it finally stops… at the bottom of a stairwell. The chair clatters down the rest of the stairs, leaving the bunny reeling on the mid-floor landing.*

Isn’t that better? Not only has the options available to the characters increased, but it is a more interesting scene to watch overall.


Rule 5: Time is Relative(ly Important).

Conversely, just because poses should be detailed, doesn’t mean they should or have to be long. Remember that a fight is typically a fast-paced event, with the flow and ebb of the tide of battle changing in mere moments. Because of this, I believe that a pose in a fight scene should only cover a short period of time, perhaps just one or two swings. This helps to properly represent how fights can change dramatically in short periods of time, and also helps to keep things even in terms of how much each character is able to pull off. It’s not fair if someone is only posing a punch or two a pose, and someone else is going on and on, describing actions that take would take forever.

Think about it this way… if your pose is going on and on and on, you’re inherently assuming that the other character wouldn’t or couldn’t do anything about it. That assumption isn’t up to you; it’s up to the player of the other character.


Rule 6: Just Because You Say It, Doesn’t Make It So.

Speaking of fairness, remember that this RP works on the rule of implied consent… for the most part, anything your character does in a fight scene towards an opponent is considered an attempt, not a sure thing. Punches and kicks don’t automatically hit, grabs and throws aren’t a sure thing, and even projectiles might miss their mark.

For example… “Dranar punches the thug in the nose, knocking him out.” is a bad pose. To rephrase it as a more proper pose, it would be something like… “Dranar swings at the thug’s face, trying to knock him out with a well-placed punch to his nose.” The reasoning for this is simple: When you are posing, you are only posing for your own character, nothing more, nothing less. When you pose your character automatically hitting someone, you are writing for the other character, and that’s no good.


Rule 7: Read the Poses.

This should go without saying, but I’m saying it anyway. Read the poses. People put a lot of thought into it (hopefully), you should at least read it to make sure you know what they’re saying. And if you don’t understand something… ask. This also applies if someone doesn’t seem to be reading your poses. For example, if your attacks or other vital pieces of information are being ignored, ask the person for a clarification or a repose.


Rule 8: What you Know is not What the Character Knows.

Now then, what to do with all of these details and information? The answer is… nothing. Nothing at first, anyway. Remember, you are playing the roll of a another person, your character, and just because you can see something in a pose or read it in a bio doesn’t mean that your character can see it from their point of view. This is called “metagaming” and is generally seen as extremely poor RPing form.

To further clarify, “Metagaming” is the use of outside information while in character. For example: Let’s say that, for whatever reason, Credence and Nina are fighting. Now then, Credence has a phobia towards mannequins, dolls, and other life-imitating objects. This is a fact that is very unlikely to be all that widely known, so if Nina were to pull a puppet out of her hat and start waving it in Credence’s face, expecting her to freak out, that would be metagaming. The outside knowledge of Credence’s phobia had been used when Nina would otherwise not know about it.

Metagaming is bad for in any kind of scene, but especially so in fighting scenes. It removes strategy and thought from them and instead just turns it into a silly mess. There isn’t much of a point to coming up with a brilliant plan if your opponent always seems to know what you’re doing.


Rule 9: Science Rules.

In this case, the particular field of science is Physics. I know we’re not necessarily the most realistic, but there are a few basics to keep in mind… Your character isn’t fast enough to dodge bullets all the time. There’s only a handful of characters who could balance on improbably tall and pointy objects. You can’t change direction in mid-air unless you’re a plane, helicopter, or some kind of flying creature.

Moving on, there a couple of related broad concepts that are fairly simple to understand, but perhaps a bit more difficult to apply to something like a fight scene: inertia and momentum. Most people know these as described by Newton’s laws of Physics, “An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.” In these cases, the amount of force needed is dependant on the weight. The heavier something is, the more force is needed to move it.

Let’s look at an example: It’s nighttime, and Snapback is doing his usual rounds. He’s hanging from a hook on the end of a cable attached to a crane, and he wants to make a dramatic leap off of it to ledge across the way. He kicks off… and finds himself coming up rather short. The reason? Since the hook is relatively light, the force of Snapback pushing off of it moves it a fair distance, meaning there’s less force to move Snapback towards the ledge. Conversely, if he was kicking off of something heavy, like a wrecking ball, the force wouldn’t move it that much, meaning that the force would be going primarily into launching Snapback safely to the ledge.

Now let’s look at a moving example… Momentum is a fairly easy example to illustrate in general, so let’s start with that. Assume that Jules’s van and Jade’s tank are driving down the same stretch of road, going at the same speed, and at the same point, they both apply an equal amount of braking power. As most people would expect, Jules’s van would come to a stop much sooner than Jade’s tank, because Jade’s tank is, well… a tank, and much much heavier. Similarly, if two identical copies of Jules’s van are driving down the same stretch of road, one going 30, the other 60, if they both hit the brakes at the same time, the one going 30 will stop sooner than the one going 60.

By now, you’re probably tired of me blathering on like this and are wondering, “But Dranar, what does this have to do with fighting scenes?” Well, let me illustrate. Let’s say someone just picked up a large lead pipe to use in a fight. Nice and heavy, perfect for causing massive trauma. However, since it’s so heavy, it’s harder to get swinging because of inertia, and once you swing you better hope you hit, or else the added momentum is likely to take you for a walk. The same idea goes for punching and kicking, as anyone who has played a fighting game (Or actually knows martial arts) will tell you. Jabs might not hurt that much, but they’re easy enough to pull back from and block if you need to. However, something heavier, like a haymaker or a roundhouse, has a lot of force behind it, and can cause a lot of damage, but if they’re dodged or deflected, you are pretty open for a counter attack.


Rule 10: Thoughts on Guns.

...ok, not really a 'rule', but... (Thanks to Silver for this one.)

Basically, people are afraid to have their characters take gunshots, no matter how well-trained the gunslinger may be, because they think it means an instant trip to the hospital or an injury. This mindset basically makes any knowledge of guns useless to a character because people are determined to have their characters always dodge gunshots to avoid lethal damage.

Which is understandable, because who really wants their character stuck in the hospital for a week because they got shot? But what people are misunderstanding is that gunshots in this RP, or even in Shadow the Hedgehog, don't have to be THAT lethal unless the player receiving the gun shot chooses it to be (for a plot related purpose, or whatever else).

So people should be less afraid to take gunshots and realize that it doesn't necessarily have to mean a trip to the hospital or a major injury.


Rule 11: If you have a Problem, Ask.

If you have a problem with how someone is RPing or need a clarification on something, talk to them about it. If that doesn’t work, talk to a GM. We don’t always notice things. We’re not omniscient. Sometimes you need to jab us with the pointy end of a stick.

The thing that needs to be addressed first and foremost here is the question, "What is freezing?"

Freezing, in terms of RP, is when a scene is unfinished. This could happen for many reasons. It can happen for a number of reasons. The main reason is that one of the players involved has to leave before the scene can end or be faded. This, unfortunately, leaves the players involved in said scene to have their characters in the scene "frozen," or locked into that scene until all the players are ready to resume it.

This is most prone to happen in bigger scenes. How can one get around this, you ask?

It depends on the scene, really. If it's a casual conversation between two characters, usually a player can "time warp" and do another scene with their frozen character while the other player isn't there. Though this needs to be used carefully. If not, it can mess up chronological order. Just as well, if one decides to time warp to get around freezing, it would be best for the events that so far occurred in the frozen scene not to be mentioned. The scene hasn't finished, so it's not certain how it will end yet.

Another alternative is canceling the scene until further notice. It should be seen, however, as a more of a last resort than a regular strategy. Say someone's been gone for about a month with no word on why. In that circumstance, it seems more reasonable.

It must be stressed: If your character is involved in a significant scene in which the end of it can cause quite an impact, do NOT "time warp." If the waiting becomes too long and the players - or one of them - involved goes missing for long, simply "delete" the scene.

Another important thing here is communication between players. In fact, not only is it just "another important thing" - it is of BIG importance. Communication is a MUST. If you have a scene - big or small - and you know - or think - that you'll have to be going at a certain or general time, let the other players involved know. Just as well, if you can guess or estimate when you might be back, that might help too. People will rarely be "on the dot," but if you, say, to your knowledge, know that you won't be on the next day, let the other players know, that way they can guess how long you will be gone.

This isn't an exact science. Not everyone knows when they'll be back, what day, what time, etc. But if you have a general idea, sharing it might help. There are things that can come up from seemingly nowhere. Someone might have to go right away and unexpectedly. That can't be helped. But try to communicate with what you know.

Alright, as many of you know, I’ve sorta been implicitly writing a lot about the history of Dragons as a race on Mobius with how I’ve been playing Dranar, and his relations with other Dragon characters, such as Ronia and Basis. The problem with this is that it presents a wall to new players, as it’s hard to see this history without scouring through multiple bios and forum posts. Hopefully, I can cover the most important parts as they’ve been established in previous RP.

History 101

Dragons, historically, were a very proud and isolationist race, generally sticking to their own territories, save when the itch of war caused them to try and take over a neighbor. Naturally, because of their secrecy, many legends and tall tales began to grow about them, much like the Dragon legends of Earth: their vast fortunes, their penchants for young maidens, and the most impressive, their elemental breath attacks. For the most part, life was good.

However, all good things must come to an end, and the golden age of the Dragons was no exception. Roughly 500-600 years ago, a terrible occurrence swept over the Draconic kingdom: young Dragons were being born without their breath attacks. Their best healers tried to discover why it was happening, but no answers were forthcoming. As time went on, more and more members of each generation were born without their breath attack, until it was figured that there were no more Dragons who possessed their legendary heritage.

Being as secretive as they were, they tried their best to not let this information out, fearing that the sign of weakness would invite an invasion. Unfortunately, jealous neighbors soon found out anyway, and mounted an attack. Things looked grim for Dragonkind for a while, as their forces were defeated on many occasions. Hope appeared in the form of a young dragoness of one of the ruling households who used her diplomatic skills to convince other neighbors to come and assist them. Thanks to their combined efforts, the invaders were repelled.

This lead to a sort of split in Draconic civilization, however. Recent events had convinced many dragons that their isolationist tendencies of old were not the way of the future, and sought to integrate into the rest of Mobian society. On the other hand/claw/what have you, there were Dragons who felt that doing so would lessen their culture as a whole and sought to keep to their old isolationist ways. To this end, many of them broke off and started their own settlements and villages where they could stick with the “old ways” without interference from outsiders.

Alchemy

While Dragons didn’t invent the concept of alchemy, it is still very important to those who follow the old ways. Like many other alchemists, they sought to create something which seemed nigh-impossible. At first, they seemed to follow along the same lines as other alchemists, trying to turn lead into gold for starters. However, with the terrible loss that they suffered as a people, their efforts turned towards restoring the Dragons’ lost breath attacks. Early attempts were made with chemicals made through other alchemic processes, with varying results… most of them rather unpleasant for the test subject.

It was a long and frustrating process, but there was a glimmer of hope from a somewhat unusual source. As part of the aid package sent from their newfound neighboring allies, the Dragons received a new sort of medicine that had been recently developed. Much to their surprise and frustration, it had little effect. Their allies gave them assurances and examples that it worked, so the Dragons started to try and craft their own medicine based on the same principals. What they soon discovered was that Dragons possessed such a unique physiology that the same herbs which could cure regular Mobians had little effect on Dragons, at least when processed into a medicine or potion. (As it is likely to come up: It’s only some herbs and substances which have this effect, and only after proper processing. Modern medicines still work just fine.) This led the alchemists towards a new tangent, working with the Dragon herbalists to discover the hidden powers of other plants. They hoped that medicines created in this fashion would help them to recover their lost breath attacks. The only obstacle standing in their way was numbers, as there were many different combinations of herbs to test, as well as many different ways to prepare them. Unfortunately, this meant that it took the Dragon alchemists a rather long time to create even the most basic healing elixirs. By the time they had, the war was pretty much over.

Of course, with the war over, and Dragonkind splintering into the two major groups, there was the question of what was going to happen with the alchemists. Since they were, afterall, working on reclaiming their old gifts, they left with those who wanted to maintain their isolationist ways. As such, Dragon alchemy became their next great secret, even keeping it from their fellow Dragons who had left them. Over time, alchemists created many different potions and elixirs with varying, sometimes extreme effects. In some cases, it can transform the Dragon into an entirely new form, like sand or mist. Eventually, they succeeded in creating a potion which reclaimed their lost breath abilities, but fearful that the loss of them in the first place was due to some higher power, did not just freely give it out. Instead, they devised trials to test those who wished to regain the lost art, testing both their physical and mental capacities. Not only must the Dragon’s body be able to handle the breath, but they also must have enough sense not to misuse it and reveal the secret. Because of this, even though there’s a noticeable percentage of Dragons who have regained their breath attacks, they don’t use it that often.

At this point, I realize that I haven’t said much about the preparation of the potions. In part, this is due to the numerous ways a potion can be prepared, though there is one key element that prevails though all of them: time. These are not something one can whip up in the midst of a battle. They all require that the alchemist prepare them in advance. Another key fact is that these potions only seem to work on Dragons. Anyone else who attempts to use or ingest them may become ill or possibly even die, depending on the strength of the potion. Basis has tried to skirt this issue by using some of his own blood in the mixture with varying degrees of success. He’s pretty much the only one who’s tried this technique, however.

In the village, the alchemist is seen as a very important person, often standing on equal terms with the village elders. The head alchemist also decides on who can be tutored in the ways of the “magical” brewing. At times, this can lead to intra-village strife and fighting, as was seen in one of the villages in the desert, when Sosis and his alchemist brethren tried to pull a coup against the village elders. To outsiders, they are generally described as medicine men or healers, using the old ways to heal the injured as well as more modern medicines.

The Clans:

(Note: Some of the following information is up for debate since there is no character present in order to help set precedent.) Dragonkind is split up into four different “clans” based off of their physical attributes as well as their breath attacks. The following descriptions are… averages, and are not to be considered strict guidelines, especially when it comes to colors.

Fire Clan: Named after their iconic fire breath attack, Fire Clan Dragons generally run the gambit from yellow to orange to red, though other colors have been noted. They generally have straight head horns, and occasionally smaller horns on the back of their jaw. Their snouts are rather average looking, and their ears and typically long and thin. They can withstand higher temperatures than other reptiles, but suffer even worse in colder temperatures. Their wings are medium sized and allow them to glide well, though they need to make use of thermals in order to prolong their flying time.

Ice Clan: Sometimes also referred to as the Water Clan, members of the Ice Clan are able to breathe ice as their breath attack. Their features are more rounded, and their scales resemble smooth polished stones at the bottom of the river. Their spinal ridge typically bears fin-like protrusions, and their horns are shorter and swept back. Ice Clan dragons tend towards the teal, blue, indigo, and purple colors of the spectrum. While they don’t have wings, they make up for it by having excellent swimming skills, and can also survive underwater for longer periods than most Mobians. In addition, they are the antithesis to other reptiles, as they seem to handle colder weathers well, but have problems with warmer climates.

Earth Clan: Also called the Thunder Clan, their breath attack is unique, as it is not a controlled exhalation, but more like a burst or a shout. It is a very powerful sonic attack, capable of splitting rock when used by experienced Dragons. Their features are rougher and more chiseled and angular, as well as their scales, and they are generally built more heavily. They occasionally have scaly spikes growing from their elbows and knees, and their cranial horns are generally thick, or come in groupings. Their spinal ridges are also spiky. Earth Clan dragons run, predictably, through the more earthy tones, like green and brown. They have smaller wings, which coupled with their heavier weight, generally only allow them to glide for small distances.

Sky Clan: Also called the Air or Lightning Clan, these Dragons have an electrical breath attack, not unlike the discharge of an electric eel, although a bit more powerful, and a bit easier to direct. They are built much thinner and aerodynamic than the other clans, with long, tapered snouts and smaller, swept-back horns. They run from white to purple to grey to yellow colored. Most impressive are their wings, which are large but thin, disguising great power. A Sky Clan dragon can fly for great distances with no other assistance, and are among the best fliers in all of Mobian-dom.

Notable Dragons:

There have been a few names that Dranar and the others have brought up from time to time, and this section is here to explain a little about who they are and what they did to become so… Notable.

Freya – Freya was the dragoness who used her skills with diplomacy in order to get help from the neighboring powers in order to rescue themselves after rivals started invading and attacking after the news got out that their breath attacks had been lost. She is widely regarded as a saint of Dragon-kind, seen as one who watches over the peacemakers of the world.

Bahamut – One of the great heroes of the invasion, he helped to lead forces who managed to stave off enemy battalions before they could raze villages which hadn’t been evacuated. Not just a tactician, he lead his forces from the field, making use of the terrain to force the enemy to fight him on his own terms. After the war, Bahamut and Freya were wed after a short engagement triggered through them both being brought together with their hero status.

(Yes their names are from Final Fantasy. Big deal.)