Q: How do I join?
A: The
only thing you'll need to join is a profile with the following information:
[*]
Name
[*]
Gender
[*]
Age
[*]
Species
[*]
Physical description (including Height & Weight; picture optional)
[*]
Personality description
Additional information can be provided
as desired. Having an established, in-depth
history/background for your character is highly encouraged as it helps prevent accusations of
cheesing. As always, it is up to individual players to maintain the rules of their scenario, including how the story is planned.
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Q: Can you summarize the basic points of the lore?
A: Certainly! They are, as follows:
* A great cataclysm flooded the world many millennia ago. This was signaled by the first "starfall" - an incident occurring every two-hundred years in which the sun casts out a sparkling dust that falls through the atmosphere.
* A "Prophet" and first emperor of a united Nasiria wrote a prophecy warning of a time when another cataclysm would occur. He wrote that "all the people" must be united to survive this catastrophe.
* At the end of the Nasirian Empire's lifespan, the last emperor, Nasir II, forms the Nansaluk Hibera (Nasirian Knights) as a special order of warriors
and regular people who would keep Nasiria from falling into anarchy.
* Eventually, the Knights became corrupt and were disbanded by the Ephors, the high priests who kept them together in the first place, in a bloody event later known as the "Final Commission". The leaders (grandmasters) mercilessly slaughtered one another during this incident.
* Over a thousand years later, the eighth recorded starfall since the prophet's time acts as an omen preceding the prophesied second catastrophe (though it's described differently from the first in the texts). The Ephors have just handpicked four people to become the leaders of a reinstated Nansaluk Hibera to unite Nasiria in preparation.
* All four of those chosen debated and couldn't decide on a solution. So they split the Nansaluk Hibera into four orders: the First, Second, Third & Fourth Orders. Each are dedicated to accomplishing their goals in a different manner.
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Q: What should the first post consist of?
A: This entirely depends on your preferences! Usually, I'll make the first post to establish the setting and what our characters should see or experience, but there's one thing I often ask before starting: how would
you prefer the start of our RP?
I can offer three choices for my own first posts:
The first is
in medias res, or
in the middle of things. This means the first post starts us off in the middle of the plot or during a fast-paced scene where practically no major details are revealed until much later. This is good if you want to jump right in and skip the details.
The second is
ab initio, or
from the beginning. This would involve a slow-paced start in which our characters would meet and slowly get to know each other while learning about the plot bit by bit. This is good if you want to establish our characters and gradually set up the plot.
The third is via
exposition. This would involve a fairly slow-paced start with large amounts of information being shared about the plot OOC via - you guessed it! - exposition. The result is something of an "info dump" where you'll get all of the initial details from the start.
I'm comfortable with any of those options, but let me know which one you would enjoy the most!
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Q: Is this roleplay right for me?
A: I highly recommend taking
this test to get an idea of why you roleplay. Provided you know that (with or without the test), I can answer this question in a concise manner. To note, I myself am a
Biographer.
Players that may find this RP interesting:
The Biographer, The Portraitist (overarching plot notwithstanding), The Director (though hand-waving and some kinds of Artistic License is prohibited, as is screenwriting), The Fantasy Hero (minus power gaming and munchkin behavior), and The Shipper (though some of the stronger themes may be difficult for the emotionally sensitive).
Players that may want to avoid this RP:
The Smutfic, The Soap Opera Star, and The Stuntman. Also, The Crack Writer.
While storytelling is important, part of the fun in this roleplay is meant to be the challenge. That challenge is in making plausible actions and behaviors for your character. This means playing your character's personality accurately, and following the laws of physics, while making an engaging story. That said, other players can RP without that unique challenge, but if you want to RP with me, you may have to appreciate and/or enjoy this kind of challenge.
Occasional use of dice for randomizing events can be fun too, but that's completely up to the other player in my case.
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Q: Do I have to join RPRepository and/or submit a character to this group in order to participate?
A: Only if you want to join in on roleplays specific to RPRepository. I roleplay in many places, so simply contacting me there should be sufficient. Note that I don't use email often except for personal affairs, so please direct your inquiries to me via PM. I won't bother listing all of the places I haunt, since chances are you found this informative little site in a post I made on a site you frequent. Contact me there, and we're gold.
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Q: Do I have to join one of the Orders? Which one should I pick?
A: No, you can choose to play a character that is unaffiliated with the Nasirian Knights.
If you do decide to join the Knights, however, here's a rough guide on what to expect for each:
The
First Order is perfect for
Action-Adventure and
Military Fiction.
The
Second Order is perfect for
Fantasy Quests and
Bold Explorers.
The
Third Order is perfect for
Medieval Noir and most kinds of
Thriller Fiction.
The
Fourth Order is perfect for
"Fantasy with a dash of Sci-Fi" and
Mystery Fiction.
All of the above also include various forms of
Drama and
Epic Fiction. They may also use a liberal amount of
Grey-and-Gray Morality.
They will NOT use genres such as
Soap Opera,
Sitcom,
Slice of Life,
Low Comedy or
Religious Edutainment.
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Q: What genre is this? How common is magic in this world?
A: Both are answered in the '
Information' tab. To put it simply, this is a
Low Fantasy with an emphasis on resembling an
Epic at times and a
Drama at others. There should also be a copious amount of character-driven drama that interacts with the overarching plot, similar to those stories found in the
Iliad or the
Mass Effect series.
Magic is a non-issue until 25 BE on the timeline, and even once it starts playing a role, it should take no more center-stage than the swords and spears of the
Iliad or the guns and starships of
Mass Effect - although there
will be something notably unique about it. The only exceptions are the Ethereal Shackles (for the Second Order) and any magic-imbued Ancient artifacts (for the Fourth Order). There may be a moment when it evolves into
High Fantasy far into the IC future, but as always, players are welcome to remain in a single time period for as long as desired.
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Q: Will this be a group or one-on-one RP? What is the maximum number of players that can be involved at once?
A: If a player wants to roleplay one-on-one with myself or others, they are welcome to ask! I'd be happy to RP with players separately. That said, if any players want to bring in others for a group RP, I
may be fine with that. Either way, expect most of our roleplays to take place via PM for the sake of convenience due to notifications that let players know when a new post has been made. The maximum number of players depends on any arrangements made beforehand - a.k.a. one player I roleplay with may want to keep things one-on-one for his/her RP, while another may want to involve one or more others besides us.
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Q: Would we be required to play as one of the pre made races to join the group? Do I have to play an anthropomorphic character?
A: In regard to the first question,
yes, although I'm open to compromise! New species will appear over the course of the timeline following the event that draws magic back into the world. Until then, players should choose between Human, Kehlan or Eshran (the latter of which is divided into eight sub-species).
For the second,
no, you don't have to play one of the eshran or any other anthropomorphic character. All three have different challenges. Humans in Nasiria are frequently discriminated against and will have less social mobility, much less be capable of communicating efficiently with kehlans. Kehlans are a very detailed species that are almost completely alien to humans, evolved from an aquatic species that existed before magic disappeared. Eshran aren't your typical anthros, since their feral instincts are still extremely powerful; further, they're highly outnumbered and have trouble adapting to different climates.
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Q: Can my character control a group or country? Will my character have an effect on the setting?
A: Characters with control of a group/state, be they PC or NPC, must be approved by the GM first, preferably after we get to know the character's player. This is to prevent those with
munchkin or
meta-gaming tendencies from wrecking the setting.
The setting
is dynamic, however, and player characters will be able to alter it with their actions - just not always in the way the player might intend, as the GM extrapolates the consequences of said characters' actions on the world at large!
If you're unhappy or disagree with any changes caused by your character's actions, please explain your reasoning and further discuss the issue with the GM. I'm always happy to deliberate over the setting, and I won't dismiss your thoughts outright unless they devolve into insults and personal attacks.
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Q: Is it possible to work for or with the "seven shadows"?
A: The seven shadows emerge slowly but surely over the course of many years - one at a time. They don't all work for the same group, so a character can't simply be working for an Illuminati-type organization that ties them all together. That said, player characters may be part of any of these "shadows"! I'll post up more information on the matter soon, as I develop scenarios concerning each of them.
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Q: Is there any specific information other than the default descriptions that you want on the character sheet?
A: Not necessarily. Players can get away with the bare minimum.
But it should be noted that this could lead to some accusations of
cheesing and
metagaming - both quite often considered bad roleplay. After a roleplay has started, players should avoid adding or changing anything to their character's profile except to correct spelling/grammar and/or consistency errors. Under no circumstance are players allowed to suddenly give their characters
skills or
knowledge after learning of an IC situation where said skill(s) or knowledge
would be of use.
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Q: Can I introduce my own plot? Can I add/change anything in the continuity?
Players are welcome to introduce their own plots, but said plots should fit within the setting and not contradict anything already established. Try to keep said plots within the realm of the characters and not the world-at-large at first.
Take time to grow familiar with the setting before trying to add to or alter anything in it. You'll have to get GM approval before making any OOC additions/alterations, but if you know the setting and both its strengths and limitations, you'll be far more likely to receive permission!