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Juryrigged // REVISED LAWS OF ROLE-PLAYING
"These rules are meant to be guidelines more-so than anything else, and are not meant to be taken into a literal sense. They are a revised version of the laws which were set forth by BigFatGaw and are meant to clarify what is and isn't allowed within the bounds of role-playing. These laws are in no part to take and destroy the hard work and effort that Gaw put into his original laws, but to add to the knowledge that his laws had within them." - Wolfgang Visarett Written by: Man5iac, Duelist7783, The Paragon, Heavyarms525, KnightofNEE, Wolfgang Visarett, et al.
- Cheeze Wizz/Over-Powering Factor:
What has to be the number one rule when engaging in any RPG is the knowledge of what is and isn't allowed, such as Cheeze Wizz or Over-Powering. Cheeze Wizz, also known as the "Donut Theory", is one of the most controversial aspects of role-playing. Over-Powering, though, is far easier to explain than the controversial Cheeze Wizz. Over-Powering is when one makes their character far more powerful in any way, shape or form, than all the other characters. One such example would be to make your character have far more stamina than what would be normal for a human, if your character were a human. Although, if one were to play the antagonist within an RPG, Over-Powering would not be so frowned upon is if you were to be a normal character within the RPG. Over-Powering, like Cheeze Wizz, comes in many forms and is often a controversial subject; it can be seen as being omnipotent, like Cheeze Wizz, or having a weapon capable of using every element. The main word that represents Cheeze Wizz is omnipotence, or "All Powerful," "Godlike," etc.
- Cheeze Wizz:
- Cheeze Wizz is a misnomer. It is trying to give essense to something that is conceptual in origin. Cheeze Wizz (also referred to as God-Modding in other circles) is essentially, at its roots, overpowering, making oneself more powerful than your opponent by illegitimate means. By illegitimate, I of course mean just simply saying that one's own character is more powerful than the opposing character. Of course, there are various kinds of overpowering for all the kinds of situations found in Role Playing. There are no set regulations or guidelines to which God Modding/Cheeze Wizzing is bound. It is amorphous, and it is up to the Role Player to discern what is and isn't God Modding through use of common sense. - Wolfgang Visarett
- Coincidence, Or Plain Knowledge?
There is a difference between what you as a player within an RPG knows and what your character would know. Often, there are people who do not know the difference between what a poster knows and what a character knows. As you, the reader and role-player, progress through the RPG, you will not know all that has and will happen. Your character is not godlike, and therefore cannot know all. Even if the intro revealed that the antagonist was planning world domination doesn't mean your character would. As Gaw puts it, "Just because someone posts something doesn't always mean your character learns it. The poster learns it, but not the character." (Gaw, Gaws Laws, Rule #2). An example of this would be if if a thief on the other side of the continent was killed by KnightofNEE. You might know KnightofNEE did it, but your character certainly doesn't.
A lesser form of this, and a less noticeable one, is irregular behavior, such as having your character search an old castle in the middle of nowhere because it was revealed in an earlier post that it is the lair of an evil monster (revealed to the poster, not the character, mind you).
The smallest form of this is coincidence. Coincidence is having your character do something else because of a post, but it's not being irregular to what your character would do. A coincidence would be, the person is wandering in a field, and then a post reveals a battle going on somewhere in a field (Once again, to the poster). You could have your character coincidentally end up heading towards the battle and seeing it. A bigger coincidence would be, a person is sneaking through a castle, then a conversation in the castle is revealed by someone else, which has some very big plot revealers. But the character just happened to be in front of the door to the place where the conversation was taking place, and heard it perfectly. This is a very large coincidence. - To Control or Not to Control: As a rule of thumb, it is best not to control anyone's character unless you have their explicit permission to do so. Under no circumstances can you take control of another role-players characters. A reason for this, is that you do not know how the other person would make his or her character act in different situations, and therefore, it is strongly recommended that you not take control, even to speak, for another persons character. Another rule of thumb, but less known, but goes the same as a persons character, is an NPC (Non-Player Character). Some people do not wish their NPC's to be controlled by others, as no one else knows how that NPC's would act, etc. Again, ask permission if you can, or cannot, use a role-players NPC.
- When Common Sense Should Come Into Play:
Some kinds of common sense:
- What some would consider common sense, others actually need to be informed of, and that is that if you are in an RPG, you must role-play, it's just common sense. Also, you must take into account your surroundings, such as if one were in a medieval RPG, one would not expect people to be talking 1337 (leet) or with other slang terms.
- Another thing you should do is improve upon your role-playing skills. The better you role-play, the more interesting your posts are to read. This can be aided by trying to make your post easier to understand. Punctuate and capitalize properly, and develop your own style of organizing your posts. Also, you might want to try to make your RPG post style defined and orderly. I.E. Make your posts understandable to all others around you.
- Your character doesn't always have to be special and different from everything else. Though that can be very interesting, if you are careful on how your character is different. Though, even if your character is a plain human, he can still be 'special,' though this seems a bit of an oxymoron. Evidently, your character is always different from someone elses.
- Also, never limit your creativeness. Every little bit helps, and it makes your character far more interesting than if you didn't add any creativeness. Also, try and make the RPG become deeper as a whole by making it as creative as possible.
- Finally, unless it is a normal part of your characters personality, killing random NPC's is considered a no-no. This is especially true if done without reason, the exception being that you were within the heat of battle.
- The Joining:
When you want to join an RPG or battle with a story, don't just jump in without a clue as to what's happening. There are normally two good ways to get in.
- Read all the posts within the RPG to become familiar with the story.
- Ask someone who's been in since the beginning or someone who knows what's going on for a summary of the story (Though I strongly caution against using this suggestion, as it can be met with anger and distaste by other role-players and should only be used as a last ditch resort).
- Taking It All Into Account: Always take into consideration the descriptions made by all other posters within an RPG because each description offers some information as to what the surroundings are like. Also, it is a good idea to stay within the bounds of what your character will and will not do, as expressing traits unlike that of your character would cause controversy, unless the sudden change in personality was caused by sudden trauma.
- First Impressions: Here is one specific way not to introduce your character. I doubt anyone likes the ominous ultra-powerful guy who magically appears and grants everyone strength/healing/etc to everyone within the party. One of the most important things in RPG's to remember is that you are not the main character. I say this, meaning that you are not supposed to be the strongest person. No one is. All of the characters should have equal powers, if at least somewhat different, but in their own ways.