Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 00:25:43 -0500 (EST) From: Eric David Lichtenstein Subject: My Rules for Email RPG To: jae+sw-rpg@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU (rpg) Hello, Well, these are the rules that I used when I ran my pbem rpg. I wish that I had more time, because I would love to run one again. These are the rules as they are. The only things I cut out was stuff specific to the sector of space in which the players were playing in. I hope this helps someone. And if anyone out there decides to run one...I AM FIRST IN LINE TO PLAY!!!!!!!!!! :) I spend all my time GMing, I have never gotten the chance to be a character...:( Well, here it is: 1)Your Character Human, alien, droid, if you can think it up, I can find a place for you. Of course, I'll need to get specific with each of you later with important and not-so-important details, but that's later. Jedi, Sith, Imperial officer, secret rebel agent, smuggler, bounty hunter, snot nosed kid, hot-shot pilot, overworked mechanic, outlaw...whatever. Let your imagination run wild. If you know the game, create a starting character with 25 character points to start(hint:distribute the CP's to your skills!). If you don't know the game, email me that you don't and I'll help you(don't worry, it's easy.) Create a background, personality, and a reason for your character to be on the planet Tan-Erinyin, the major populated planet in the Tan system. More on the planets of this sector later. For any potential Sith out there, once you let me know about your character, I'll tell you where you are, based on the background you give me. Be creative with your backgrounds, but leave me enough leyway at the end to place you on Tan-Erinyin(unless you do it yourself). 2)The Way The Game Will Play Sorry to disappoint people, but the people playing will not be interacting with other player characters. It just takes too long to play out and get boring for everyone involved. You will be the only real character that you play with. You will have a degree of control over NPC's, in effect you will be the leader(they may argue and doublecross you, but hey, that's life.) You'll have your character, and maybe an NPC or 8 that you make friends with, or find or blackmail or whatever into helping you. I'll run them. Otherwise, you're on your own. Each 'turn' you recieve from me will look like this, roughly: Date: (the current date for your character) Description: (this is what your character sees, does, and the results of what you had your character do in the last turn) Response: (this is where you type things. Here you tell me how your character reacts to what happened to him/her/it in the 'Description'. If someone is talking to you, and you want to ask some questions to the guy, do it here. But, dont just ask one question and wait for the next turn to ask the next question. Ask them all at once. Try to provide alternate routes for your character, ie: in your 'Description' you are being shot at. For your 'Response' you type "I'll shoot back, but if those 5 guys with him also start shooting at me, I'm gonna run like hell." Use lots of "if this then this" type deals, this way you can get more done a turn, and you'll enjoy this more.) Want List: (you type things here too. This is where you list things that you want, but aren't as important as whats going on in the 'Description'. For instance: You are a bounty hunter, and the main focus of your turns is chasing down Joe Doe. But while you chase him, you're keeping your eye out for an R2 unit. You would type 'R2 unit' here. If you happen to see one, you'll aquire it. You might also want to put how much you are willing to spend for it, if you wnat to steal it...whatever.) One important thing. When you send me your response, make sure that you send me what I wrote for your description also. It will make it easier for me to know what has just happened, and your response so I can refresh myself on what's going on for your character. It'll also make it quicker for me to respond. If you have any questions about this, just ask. It's real easy. For skills and stuff, you'll have a copy of your character, and so will I. When you try something, I'll decide if you can do it based on you skill in that area(mostly for fights, the force, and things along those lines). For those of you familliar with the game, I'll decide when your character uses CP's or FP's during play based on the personality you give me, unless you state in your response that you wnat to do something 'really' well. For those of you not familliar with the game, just ignore all that CP and FP stuff. 3)The Force For all you Force users out there, I'll send you a copy of how the skills work in my game. They are generally the same, I have added some of my own and others I got off the net. If you want a power that I dont have on my list, not a problem. Send me the official write up of that power, and poof, it'll be on my list. You can use the Force in your 'Response' section like anything else, and on occasion, I'll use it for you based on your character's personality. 4)Character Advancement The skills that your character uses, he/she/it'll get better at them. I won't send you an updated character sheet until every 5 turns. You wont have much say in this unless you say that even though you're spending most of your time in the cantina you still spend an hour a day practicing your blaster skills. 5)This Sector, In A Nutshell **Heaps of stuff omitted 'cause it's not important here.** 6)Time Limits There are none. If I send you a turn, and you dont reply for 2 months, thats up to you. I wont hold it against you. I realize that people have things to do in the real world(like watch Star Wars :). In reverse, dont expect your next turn the day after you send in your response. I'll try to be quick, but no guarantees. 7)Other Stuff If you want, every so often i can send you other players turns, just so you can read about other peoples adventures. I also plan to post everyone's adventures to wpi.wpi.edu. well, these are the rules. any questions, just ask. otherwise, send me those characters! Eric