Post by Rick T.Nash on May 21, 2003 22:56:08 GMT -5
This post is devided in three parts: a short definition of "storytelling", the rules for this forum and a faq.
First, what is "Storytelling"?
Storytelling consists of creating a story where each poster inpersonates a character... Each poster adds to his character, post after post, interacting with others, reacting to their posts, slowly creating a story. There are good examples of Storytelling at this board (but oddly enough they are called RPGs there!)
The rules:
1 - All Storytelling threads (STT for short) must have a subject related to Delta Green, Cthulhu and /or conspiracies... If not they will be deleted! (One of the mods will lock the topic and leave it for a few days to give the opportunity to the thread participants to save it somewhere else...)
2 - STTs must be created with "Word Aside" (WA) threads at the same time, so that comments not part of the story but related to it can be explained by the STers.
3 - There are to be no comments in the STT. OOC - out of character - remarks should be made in the Word Aside. This is exactly what the Word Aside is made for.
4 - Do not include your signature in any STT whatsoever unless it is absolutely required for the well being of the STT. (Yes, this means you'll have to disable the "Always show my signature" option in your profile settings...)
5 - Please use italics or quotation marks when a character speaks, it makes it alot easier for the others.
6 - Proof Read!!!!! Attempt to use complete sentences, proper grammar, decent spelling, etc. Unavoidably there will be mistakes, and sometimes incomplete sentences are added for emphasis and style enhancement, but keep it to a minimum.
7 - Do not speak very much for another character (i.e. do you kill him, make him fight, make him wounded, make him kill others, etc) and generally don't move them around. Sometimes you cannot do this at all. Sometimes you can do it quite a bit. It all depends on the style of ST and who you are STing with.
8 - Try and refrain from acting out of character or proportion (i.e, a group is fighting some tentacular monster, and one person goes and kills it with a rock, etc. etc.). This makes you look either enormously naive, imature, or containing a largish ego.
9 - If the creator says in the Word Aside that it is a restricted, then you must ask to join the thread, and may not participate until the creator gives their approval. Respect the threadmaster. He has the power to have your posts deleted!
10 - Be realistic in the sense of realisticness required by the particular thread. In a Cthulhu related thread, a character won't do something like shoot rabbits from a cannon at approaching Shoggots. Nor will he eat people (Unless he's Cthulhu himself, other large, flesh eating monster, a Cho-Cho, or a character in a completely nonsensicle thread).
11 - Try not to twist the story to much from the course it is going when you find it. This can be very irritating when unrealistically done. However, plot twists are very good things.
12 - If you begin to post in an STT, please stick with it. Do not be a dead horse that must be dragged around by the other players, or that causes the thread's death. If you are no longer interested in that STT, or do not have time, please be courteous and write yourself out by a realistic death or departure. etc. etc.
13 - The Thread Master is the originator of the thread. The final decision of the Thread Master in any matter of conflict can only by superceded by a moderator.
14 - 'Word Aside' threads are required. Only the Thread Master may create a 'Word Aside' thread.
15 - Participation is by invitation only. This is normally handled in the 'Word Aside' thread not in the thread itself. The only exception to this is if the Thread Master chooses to make the invitation process part of his thread. In this case, the Thread Master must signify in the story when invitations are being accepted and when the invitation process is over. A Thread Master may also declare that no invitation is required or set any other kind of limits or rules.
16 - There are a number a situations where a post can be deleted without warning.
These include:
- Whole posts out of character in the main thread when a 'Word Aside' thread is available.
- Whole posts out of character without any OOC format; ex: (OOC This is out of character text.)
- Any post by a citizen who was not invited to join that thread.
F.A.Q.:
Q: When does someone know that he has to post? Will you say when the time is right or do we simply have to figure it out from the story?
A: It's up to you to decide wether or not it's time to post... Just try to be logical! Do not interrupt an action scene with an "exposure" post for example, unless the last participant posted in a way that allows the scene to be left as a cliffhanger of course. If you really don't know if you should post, that's why there is the Word Apart thread: Just ask there if people are through with their scene or if you can interrupt the course of events...
Q: How often do we post? Of what I see, if someone does not post then the story can not continue. Should I check the site 2-3 times per day or more often than that?
A: Again, it depends: The more important to the story your character is (i.e. if you're the "hero" or the "villain") the more often your posting will be required. The idea is to check the thread as often as possible to you and see wether or not your participation is needed at that point...
Q: How can we handle conversations between characters without slowing too much the thread?
A:It's quite simple, since STs are not like RPGs, the best option is to handle the conversation from one of the characters point of view, but making sure not to force the other STer into something he didn't choose to do.
The basic rule of thumb is: Do not take any decision for another storyteller's character without his approval. But you can handle a conversation from one character's point of view only, just leave it to the other to take on from your last sentence if it implies a choice of his part.
Q: I can no longer participate to a STT, what should I do?
A: It's once again quite simple. First, it depends on how important your character is to the story: if you can "write him off" with a credible death it may even help develloping the plot of the story. Now, if your character is the "main" one or too important for the story to be written off, you must find a substitute writer to take on your character. The best way to know if you should write off your character or seek a substitute writer is to discuss it with the STT initiator.
Hope this is clear and makes sense to you!
If you have any question, post it in this thread, I'll answer it and maybe add it to the faq!!
First, what is "Storytelling"?
Storytelling consists of creating a story where each poster inpersonates a character... Each poster adds to his character, post after post, interacting with others, reacting to their posts, slowly creating a story. There are good examples of Storytelling at this board (but oddly enough they are called RPGs there!)
The rules:
1 - All Storytelling threads (STT for short) must have a subject related to Delta Green, Cthulhu and /or conspiracies... If not they will be deleted! (One of the mods will lock the topic and leave it for a few days to give the opportunity to the thread participants to save it somewhere else...)
2 - STTs must be created with "Word Aside" (WA) threads at the same time, so that comments not part of the story but related to it can be explained by the STers.
3 - There are to be no comments in the STT. OOC - out of character - remarks should be made in the Word Aside. This is exactly what the Word Aside is made for.
4 - Do not include your signature in any STT whatsoever unless it is absolutely required for the well being of the STT. (Yes, this means you'll have to disable the "Always show my signature" option in your profile settings...)
5 - Please use italics or quotation marks when a character speaks, it makes it alot easier for the others.
6 - Proof Read!!!!! Attempt to use complete sentences, proper grammar, decent spelling, etc. Unavoidably there will be mistakes, and sometimes incomplete sentences are added for emphasis and style enhancement, but keep it to a minimum.
7 - Do not speak very much for another character (i.e. do you kill him, make him fight, make him wounded, make him kill others, etc) and generally don't move them around. Sometimes you cannot do this at all. Sometimes you can do it quite a bit. It all depends on the style of ST and who you are STing with.
8 - Try and refrain from acting out of character or proportion (i.e, a group is fighting some tentacular monster, and one person goes and kills it with a rock, etc. etc.). This makes you look either enormously naive, imature, or containing a largish ego.
9 - If the creator says in the Word Aside that it is a restricted, then you must ask to join the thread, and may not participate until the creator gives their approval. Respect the threadmaster. He has the power to have your posts deleted!
10 - Be realistic in the sense of realisticness required by the particular thread. In a Cthulhu related thread, a character won't do something like shoot rabbits from a cannon at approaching Shoggots. Nor will he eat people (Unless he's Cthulhu himself, other large, flesh eating monster, a Cho-Cho, or a character in a completely nonsensicle thread).
11 - Try not to twist the story to much from the course it is going when you find it. This can be very irritating when unrealistically done. However, plot twists are very good things.
12 - If you begin to post in an STT, please stick with it. Do not be a dead horse that must be dragged around by the other players, or that causes the thread's death. If you are no longer interested in that STT, or do not have time, please be courteous and write yourself out by a realistic death or departure. etc. etc.
13 - The Thread Master is the originator of the thread. The final decision of the Thread Master in any matter of conflict can only by superceded by a moderator.
14 - 'Word Aside' threads are required. Only the Thread Master may create a 'Word Aside' thread.
15 - Participation is by invitation only. This is normally handled in the 'Word Aside' thread not in the thread itself. The only exception to this is if the Thread Master chooses to make the invitation process part of his thread. In this case, the Thread Master must signify in the story when invitations are being accepted and when the invitation process is over. A Thread Master may also declare that no invitation is required or set any other kind of limits or rules.
16 - There are a number a situations where a post can be deleted without warning.
These include:
- Whole posts out of character in the main thread when a 'Word Aside' thread is available.
- Whole posts out of character without any OOC format; ex: (OOC This is out of character text.)
- Any post by a citizen who was not invited to join that thread.
F.A.Q.:
Q: When does someone know that he has to post? Will you say when the time is right or do we simply have to figure it out from the story?
A: It's up to you to decide wether or not it's time to post... Just try to be logical! Do not interrupt an action scene with an "exposure" post for example, unless the last participant posted in a way that allows the scene to be left as a cliffhanger of course. If you really don't know if you should post, that's why there is the Word Apart thread: Just ask there if people are through with their scene or if you can interrupt the course of events...
Q: How often do we post? Of what I see, if someone does not post then the story can not continue. Should I check the site 2-3 times per day or more often than that?
A: Again, it depends: The more important to the story your character is (i.e. if you're the "hero" or the "villain") the more often your posting will be required. The idea is to check the thread as often as possible to you and see wether or not your participation is needed at that point...
Q: How can we handle conversations between characters without slowing too much the thread?
A:It's quite simple, since STs are not like RPGs, the best option is to handle the conversation from one of the characters point of view, but making sure not to force the other STer into something he didn't choose to do.
The basic rule of thumb is: Do not take any decision for another storyteller's character without his approval. But you can handle a conversation from one character's point of view only, just leave it to the other to take on from your last sentence if it implies a choice of his part.
Q: I can no longer participate to a STT, what should I do?
A: It's once again quite simple. First, it depends on how important your character is to the story: if you can "write him off" with a credible death it may even help develloping the plot of the story. Now, if your character is the "main" one or too important for the story to be written off, you must find a substitute writer to take on your character. The best way to know if you should write off your character or seek a substitute writer is to discuss it with the STT initiator.
Hope this is clear and makes sense to you!
If you have any question, post it in this thread, I'll answer it and maybe add it to the faq!!