Dark Tendencies of Life Main OOC
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:06 pm
Welcome to "Dark Tendencies of Life", the nittier, gritter Housepets! Role play
Note that "DT" or "Dark Tendencies" will hereafter be used for ease of typing.
OUR IRC: #DarkTendencies
Ranks:
Game Master (me, unless otherwise specified, also acronym = GM) has authority over the entire system. PM me for room making requests and major issues over the rules in each room. MY WORD IS FINAL, unless you can bring up a VERY good point. Feel free to make points until I shut you down, though.
Room Moderators (RMs) control each individual room.
Players control each character.
Premise:
The basic premise of "Dark Tendencies" is the exploration of the much darker and grittier side of the Housepets! Universe. Just because some places are Pet Friendly doesn’t mean that their nice. You make a character as per the system below and engage in adventures with the other Player Characters, though they are now not light-hearted and funny but can actually drastically effect the lives and attitudes of your character. Rebelling against an Oppressive Dictatorship, for example. While there will be times where life is happy, these are not the majority of the time.
KEEP IN MIND that intense play is NOT NECESSARY. You could RP inner-city Chicago if you wanted.
In all cases, Rick’s comic canon is the base for each scenario, though the setting will be altered. The main point is to have fun and do whatever the room’s premise is. Rick’s characters do NOT make appearances in these RPs.
Furthermore, note that while this is an action-adventure style RP, this is not going to be Fight-scene after fight-scene after fight-scene. That sort of thing is reserved for IRC. This will be done almost entirely over the Forums. Repeat: This RP will be on the Forums almost entirely, exceptions excluded.
Exceptions: Reasons for an IRC chat would be if you and another character are having an entirely one-on-one conversation or if you are writing a one-on-one fight scene. Anything that involves more than three people should be worked out on the Forums.
Allowed: Explosions, blood in small quantities, broken bones, stabbing, throwing people off roofs, action-moves (Jet Li Kung Fu, etc.), flamethrowers, ad-hoc and legitimate weapons (from brooms to cross-bows) Armor, action gear (traps, ropes, grappling hooks, NVGs, etc.), evil characters, evil henchmen, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Any body who sustains a heavy injury is assumed to be unconscious unless the Player kills off the character
Disallowed: Excessive Gore (Ripping out intestines, caving in skulls, etc.), anything breaking the Forum Rules, excessively lengthy combat (fight scenes should not take six pages to conclude unless they are of the Epic Boss Fight type), Deus Ex Machina (“Suddenly, a giant mecha appeared to fight the bad-guy!”).
KEEP BLOOD TO A MINIMUM PEOPLE.
THERE IS VIOLENT DEATH, BUT IT WILL BE RESERVED FOR CHARACTER KILL OFF. If a character is completely failing, they may die spectacularly, but it must be A) In an at least mostly heroic or epic fashion, B) Not involve complete dismemberment and other such heavily gory things, C) Not involve any of the prohibited items or events, D) be initiated by the player who owns the character.
As always, FOLLOW THE FORUM RULES.
Rooms:
YOU MAY ONLY HAVE 10 PEOPLE IN EACH ROOM.
RP rooms will have a set premise of their own (Take Over the World, Steal the Greatest Treasure Ever, Viva la Revolution, etc.) and decide their own fates. While some rooms may be following traditional neighborhood format, I left room for people to form, say, Sly Cooper style groups for RPing. This includes the Main Plot, Side Quests, NPCs, Weaponry, Equipment, Environment, and Other Miscellaneous. These will be discussed individually below.
Main Plot: The Main Plot will be loose and modular, meaning that it can change in a heartbeat. The Main Plot MUST follow the premise set by the Room Moderator (RM) unless otherwise approved. For example, if your RM has set a premise of “Steal the Treasure” but you start RPing a plot involving starting a revolution, that is a fail. EXCEPTIONS: If the plot change can contribute successfully to the premise. Taking the same example, if the revolution distracts the National Government of Iran and you are able to steal the Really Ancient Textbook for Furniture that’s worth several million dollars because of the revolution, then the revolution is an appropriate plot sequence. YOU MUST MAKE THIS CLEAR, or the RM has the authority to crush your plot into oblivion. MAKE SURE that you alert me in the OOC and I give the go ahead, I don’t want anything that breaks the Forum Rules.
Side Quests: Players and RMs can hold a referendum for various side quests. Helping old ladies across the street, killing some bandits, etc. Do this for the lulz or for the money, but the point is for it to be a bit of fun to get away from the gritty plot for awhile.
NPCs: Players can create Non-Player Characters to facilitate the plot. NPCs are NOT ways to “save the day”. If you write yourself into a corner, have the floor collapse or something, but DO NOT have a character save you all.
Miscellaneous: Basically, things the room comes up with to determine a “canon” and “not canon”.
Joining:
Joining is simple! Make a character using the below template and mind the rules, then find a room with extra space!
Character Rules:
1. Have a reasonably pronounceable and easy to type name. Acceptable: Matt. Unacceptable: !Xobile (click-Bi-lay)
2. Character type: Main or Guest. Main characters are who you usually RP. Guest characters are characters that pop in as Deus Ex Machinas and other plot sequences.
3. Species. Anything that can be domesticated. Ferrets, parrots, a sugar baby, just provide a Wiki link to show that it can be domesticated. Animals that cannot be domesticated and sold in pet stores (ie: Bears, Tigers, Lions, etc.) can NOT BE USED.
4. Age. 1 human year = 3.5 animal years. Small animals (sheep, hamsters, etc.) convert 1 human year = 7 animal years.
5. Room. This can be a Neighborhood (exe: Yorkshire Fields), an Operation (exe: The Cooper Gang), a lair (exe: The Batcave), a Region (Gondor), or Other (make it up!). These ideas are NOT BINDING, but any Room must follow the basic premise above.
6. Appearance. Pretty self explanatory. Provide enough details to allow us to fully visualize the character without overloading. You will need to provide at least the following: Fur color, collar appearance, and gear they are wearing with associated coloration.
7. Personality. This will form the core of your interactions in the Rooms. If your character is crazy, then it will do crazy things like blow up an orphanage for kicks (which is also illegal in the Forum, so DON’T DO IT).
8. Random Notes. Trivia about the character. Have fun with this.
9. Weaponry: Weaponry can be key in Extreme Ways. Due to the darker and grittier style, weaponry can commonly become important. Individual rooms will have their own rules, such as brooms for the Mashed Potato Men from Mars room and katanas for the Feudal Japan room.
10. Equipment: Equipment is similarly important. It determines how the characters will interact with the environment and conduct action-adventure style movements. Again, individual rooms will have their own rules, with the MPMfromM room equipped with Space suits and such while the Feudal Japan room will have ninja-suits. Don’t forget that explosives are available at all times as long as it’s canon for the room.
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
Used with permission from Vault-Tec, the SPECIAL trait organization system assigns point values to your traits of Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Maximum 10 and minimum 2. You have 42 points to distribute among the traits.
1. Strength: physical ability to move things, carry loads, and punch people in the face. 2 = a mouse. 10 = Can Carry a Heavy Machinegun Without Issue
2. Perception: the amount that you are related to Legolas in LotR. IE: your ability to see things in the distance as well as your ability pick up on body language and such. 2 = Uber-nerd without glasses. 10 = Legolas
3. Endurance: Your HP. 2 = Mario in Super Mario Bros. 10 = The ability to get an arm chopped off and go “whatevs”.
4. Charisma: Your ability to influence people, whether that be romance or outright lying. 2 = Ugly Betty. 10 = The World’s Most Interesting Man.
5. Intelligence: the amount that you are related to Einstein. 2 = Brain Damaged. 10 = Einstein.
6. Agility: the amount that you are related to Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin. 2 = Unable to walk without tripping. 10 = Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin.
7. Luck: the amount that you are related to Joy Toye during the Battle of Brecourt Manor. For those who don’t know, Joe survived two grenades going off under his freaking butt without a scratch. THAT is luck. 2 = Walk out door and bash face into said door. 10 = Joy Toye at Brecourt Manor.
Small animals (ie: mice, hedgehogs, etc.) take a -2 hit to either Strength or Endurance. Animals with special abilities such as flight and echolocation (among others) only have 36. The ability will make up for it.
PLEASE NOTE WHAT STAT(S) YOU ARE USING IN PARENS AT THE END OF AN ACTION SEQUENCE.
Finally: go take the quiz at the following link. If you score 20 or below, you’re fine. Otherwise, rework your character to get below that score. I CAN TELL IF YOU FUDGED IT.
http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm
(The following is based off of but modified from rules originally penned down by Brittles and Buckdida. Mad Props to those two for being such BAs. Anything that looks or sounds quoted probably was.)
Young animals, such as pups, cut either their strength or endurance by half (rounding down) and neither of those stats may be above 7, and their intelligence can not be above 5. Young animals simply have not had enough time in the world to develop their bodies and minds. (Ages younger than 10.5 years old/3 human years)
Old animals can not have agility or endurance scores above 4. Old age simply slows people down. (Ages older than 70/20 human years)
SPECIAL points must be whole. You can’t split them (i.e. S-4.5 P-5.5 E-6.5 etc).
You may only have up to two main characters. Secondary minor characters, such as humans or other random pets, are allowed, but their involvement should be minimal. The reason is simple: Too many pets = not enough character development = blowing things up instead of actually RPing.
Guest Characters: So, sometimes, you get an idea for a new character, or you want to have someone who's part of your main character's backstory show up. With a character limit of two, what do you do?
Make a guest!
--Players have two main characters which are played at all times.
--Players have one guest character slot
--You can have a pool of 3 guest characters to swap between (bringing your total characters up to 5)
--Players can swap out the guest at the start of each arc, and only then.
--"Strike Characters" are characters that are only used ONCE, but do not add to your guest character pool. They take up the guest character slot when used.
--Guest and Strike Characters are NOT WAYS TO GET OUT OF BINDS. You wrote yourself into one. You must suffer the consequences.
RP Rules: These rules are incanted to ensure that everyone has fun, and that everyone participates in the community as a whole. There’re the forum rules and house rules. Pay attention to both, or you could risk being reprimanded. I’m sorry, but these things are necessary!
Dark Tendencies will operate on an almost Zero Tolerance policy. Seriously, I do NOT want the entire Mod Posse descending on me for one of you guys doing something stupid. I will PM you ONCE. Then I will report you. End of Discussion.
Forum Rules: These rules have to do with the community as a whole. Check the main forum rules thread. All regular forum rules apply here as well. The following are special reminders for rules that have been broken in the past.
-The forum is rated PG-13: Stay within that limit for ALL of Extreme Ways related things, or you will be removed from the RP and given a warning.
-Swearing: If and when your character might swear, self censor all of it, or the mods (especially Buckdida) will get annoyed.
-Politics: It’s flamebait, pure and simple. However, this is an extreme gray area, as characters could have political ideals, particularly with pet rights. In context of the pets and comic, it can drive an entire arc if done well (Communists V. Captialists, for example). Done badly (Obamacare V. Private Sector, for example) will engage the Almost Zero Tolerance Policy.
-Stay in good standing: I will assume that you aren’t a total butt (where butt = a swearword starting with B). If I receive news that you ARE being a total butt, you will be banned from the RP. If you return, I or the RM has the authority to report you and possibly get you banned from the Forums.
House Rules: Rules added so that the RP runs smoothly.
-Stay canon!: Stay on genre in your rooms, and remember that Housepets! is still Nirvana and Rick is still the Buddha.
-RP canon is IC thread: Story and character development and interaction is only "real" in your "In Character" thread. Anything that might be done elsewhere is considered "non-cannon" and does not affect the IC thread or its story.
-Mind the stat gap: The stats for your character are more of a guideline then a hard set rule. However, this does not give you an excuse to godmod or powergame with your character. Mind your limits…and mind what a stat 10 and a stat 2 can do before you take them.
One stat is not a replacement for another: Keep in mind that something such as luck is no replacement for any other stat. Your luck 10 is not going to help your strength 2 when you’re tying to push a car! Perhaps you might be able to get good footing in the mud to push it out, but that thing still isn’t going to budge…without the help of another character, that is.
Character control: When you’re fighting someone, you can’t go: “I punched” and wait for the other guy to go “I punched back”. The character control limits are ONLY off for combat scenes and ONLY for exchange of blows. You MUST keep the other character IN CHARACTER. ANY attempt to make the other man lose for the lulz will cause you to be reported.
Acceptable Example:
“Frank pulled a Right-hand Reverse Back Chop and impacted Luke’s face with enough force to break his nose. With a yell of pain, Luke recoiled, waving his arms for balance, before returning fire.”
Wait for the next post.
Avoid scripting: Some scripting is okay…like brainstorming ideas of where you want the current scenario to go. Otherwise, plotlines and plotholes can emerge when characters you can’t control don’t stick to the script you set for them. While this is a work of fiction, let's avoid using the cop out, "A wizard did it."
No crossovers in the IC threads: The time-space continuum is breakable only WITHIN any one thread.
Participate in the entirety of the forums: There are two other main boards; use them! Please make an effort to interact with the community beyond the RP when you can. While this is more of a suggestion than an actual rule, remember that this is a webcomic community, not a roleplaying one! Be sure to comment on the comic and emerge from the Roleplaying cave every now and again!
Addendum For Catnip and Other Such Things: Catnip has appeared before in the comic, and thus, is okay to use in the RP in great moderation, though should more often than not be avoided (might be hard to avoid at parties though, and occasionally, people eat the wrong things by mistake). This means there may be no severe addicts allowed. Furthering that, Alcohol is simply NOT allowed. If it MUST be there, use the creative equivalent: Catnip Tea. Again, no "tea-aholics," or anything similar. Treat Anise, the catnip equivalent for dogs, the same way. If anyone mentions smoking, it is automatically catnip or anise depending on the pet. (Or perhaps ferrotone.) Mind that any other substance is not allowed, and warnings can be issued if they are brought up.
Posting Organization:
This is the main OOC. Here, you post character sheets, organize new neighborhoods, and ask general questions about Extreme Ways. However, nothing else is allowed here. If found, it will simply be ignored.
However, the will be a OOC for each neighborhood, in which you can discuss and comment on plot, ask questions to other RP’ers, and do some light scripting if necessary. If someone wants to do something…radical, shall we say, with the neighborhood, (like a time skip, or dropping an arc and ending it early) it must be put to a vote in the relevant OOC!
Of course, there are then the different In Character, or IC threads…differentiated by their neighborhood name. This is where you post for your character! Make sure you post in the right neighborhood, as mentioned in your character sheet.
Do not make OOC only posts in the IC threads. That’s what the OOC is for.
Recommendations:
If you have a problem with another player, try to discuss your problem with them, and work it out. If you can't, then contact me (FunkyChickenFace) via PM.
Players can interact more easily with your characters if you put a link to your character sheet and stats in your signature. This is entirely optional.
Some players complain that, "They can't seem to get their foot in the door." The answer to this is quite simple: Take your character and force him/her to interact with another character! Jump on someone! Attack them! FI-AH YO’ LAZAR!!!!
Crossovers:
Did I say this already? I’ll say it again: YOU MAY NOT BREAK THE TIME SPACE CONTINUUM TO JUMP INTO ANOTHER RP.
Health
Each point you assign to Endurance will equal ten points of health. So an individual with Endurance +4 will have 40 HP. You lose five HP for each weak hit, 10 for each hard hit, 20 for each Crippling Hit (ie: break a kneecap), and ½ your health for each “head shot”.
Damage
Damage is based off the adjectives used, the body part being attacked, and the stat points used.
For example: “Mike smashed his shovel into Tom’s skull (Mike’s Str = 8).”
With the combination of the adjective “smash”, the fact that it’s Tom’s skull, and Mike’s Strength of 8, this would be counted as a “head shot”.
COMBAT
SPECIAL Factors
After much discussion with Buckdida, RockstarRaccoon, and other experienced GMs, I've decided to ditch the combat system. It's up to the RMs of each room to come up with a combat system on their own. By default, rooms will run on "free form". IE: The moderator watches to make sure the fight doesn't get out of hand or outside of a character's abilities. Again: Deus Ex Machina is NOT ALLOWED.
ACKNOLWLEDGMENTS:
Buckdida, for being my mentor. Seriously. There is no way in a blue moon that this could have even got to here without Buckdida’s guidance. Over the course of two weeks, Buckdida has patiently guided me through the steps of writing these rules without freaking out (much).
Neko, Rubin, CY_Law, and some other people from the #BsM channel on mIRC. Those formulas you see up there? Those were their ideas. Buckdida helped too, but these guys all contributed massively. They formed ideas and launched them in rocket ships while Buck pointed them in the right direction and I caught them.
Buckdida again, simply because he was that awesome.
…
I can’t think of anyone else, so THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
IF I MISSED ANYBODY. Please PM me and I’ll add you to the Acknowledgments. Seriously, you’re help was important.
OKAY NOW
ROOMS:
Yorkshire Fields: Follows a more traditional Neighborhood Format. In essence, you live in a city that is not only expanding rapidly and encroaching on the wild, it's also ruled by an iron-fisted company called BIZMART CO. Expect fast posting rates, possibly with multiple pages a day. That's why the IRC is so useful. Try and survive, kiddies.
URL: https://www.housepetscomic.com/forums/v ... 94&start=0
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Note that "DT" or "Dark Tendencies" will hereafter be used for ease of typing.
OUR IRC: #DarkTendencies
Ranks:
Game Master (me, unless otherwise specified, also acronym = GM) has authority over the entire system. PM me for room making requests and major issues over the rules in each room. MY WORD IS FINAL, unless you can bring up a VERY good point. Feel free to make points until I shut you down, though.
Room Moderators (RMs) control each individual room.
Players control each character.
Premise:
The basic premise of "Dark Tendencies" is the exploration of the much darker and grittier side of the Housepets! Universe. Just because some places are Pet Friendly doesn’t mean that their nice. You make a character as per the system below and engage in adventures with the other Player Characters, though they are now not light-hearted and funny but can actually drastically effect the lives and attitudes of your character. Rebelling against an Oppressive Dictatorship, for example. While there will be times where life is happy, these are not the majority of the time.
KEEP IN MIND that intense play is NOT NECESSARY. You could RP inner-city Chicago if you wanted.
In all cases, Rick’s comic canon is the base for each scenario, though the setting will be altered. The main point is to have fun and do whatever the room’s premise is. Rick’s characters do NOT make appearances in these RPs.
Furthermore, note that while this is an action-adventure style RP, this is not going to be Fight-scene after fight-scene after fight-scene. That sort of thing is reserved for IRC. This will be done almost entirely over the Forums. Repeat: This RP will be on the Forums almost entirely, exceptions excluded.
Exceptions: Reasons for an IRC chat would be if you and another character are having an entirely one-on-one conversation or if you are writing a one-on-one fight scene. Anything that involves more than three people should be worked out on the Forums.
Allowed: Explosions, blood in small quantities, broken bones, stabbing, throwing people off roofs, action-moves (Jet Li Kung Fu, etc.), flamethrowers, ad-hoc and legitimate weapons (from brooms to cross-bows) Armor, action gear (traps, ropes, grappling hooks, NVGs, etc.), evil characters, evil henchmen, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Any body who sustains a heavy injury is assumed to be unconscious unless the Player kills off the character
Disallowed: Excessive Gore (Ripping out intestines, caving in skulls, etc.), anything breaking the Forum Rules, excessively lengthy combat (fight scenes should not take six pages to conclude unless they are of the Epic Boss Fight type), Deus Ex Machina (“Suddenly, a giant mecha appeared to fight the bad-guy!”).
KEEP BLOOD TO A MINIMUM PEOPLE.
THERE IS VIOLENT DEATH, BUT IT WILL BE RESERVED FOR CHARACTER KILL OFF. If a character is completely failing, they may die spectacularly, but it must be A) In an at least mostly heroic or epic fashion, B) Not involve complete dismemberment and other such heavily gory things, C) Not involve any of the prohibited items or events, D) be initiated by the player who owns the character.
As always, FOLLOW THE FORUM RULES.
Rooms:
YOU MAY ONLY HAVE 10 PEOPLE IN EACH ROOM.
RP rooms will have a set premise of their own (Take Over the World, Steal the Greatest Treasure Ever, Viva la Revolution, etc.) and decide their own fates. While some rooms may be following traditional neighborhood format, I left room for people to form, say, Sly Cooper style groups for RPing. This includes the Main Plot, Side Quests, NPCs, Weaponry, Equipment, Environment, and Other Miscellaneous. These will be discussed individually below.
Main Plot: The Main Plot will be loose and modular, meaning that it can change in a heartbeat. The Main Plot MUST follow the premise set by the Room Moderator (RM) unless otherwise approved. For example, if your RM has set a premise of “Steal the Treasure” but you start RPing a plot involving starting a revolution, that is a fail. EXCEPTIONS: If the plot change can contribute successfully to the premise. Taking the same example, if the revolution distracts the National Government of Iran and you are able to steal the Really Ancient Textbook for Furniture that’s worth several million dollars because of the revolution, then the revolution is an appropriate plot sequence. YOU MUST MAKE THIS CLEAR, or the RM has the authority to crush your plot into oblivion. MAKE SURE that you alert me in the OOC and I give the go ahead, I don’t want anything that breaks the Forum Rules.
Side Quests: Players and RMs can hold a referendum for various side quests. Helping old ladies across the street, killing some bandits, etc. Do this for the lulz or for the money, but the point is for it to be a bit of fun to get away from the gritty plot for awhile.
NPCs: Players can create Non-Player Characters to facilitate the plot. NPCs are NOT ways to “save the day”. If you write yourself into a corner, have the floor collapse or something, but DO NOT have a character save you all.
Miscellaneous: Basically, things the room comes up with to determine a “canon” and “not canon”.
Joining:
Joining is simple! Make a character using the below template and mind the rules, then find a room with extra space!
Character Rules:
1. Have a reasonably pronounceable and easy to type name. Acceptable: Matt. Unacceptable: !Xobile (click-Bi-lay)
2. Character type: Main or Guest. Main characters are who you usually RP. Guest characters are characters that pop in as Deus Ex Machinas and other plot sequences.
3. Species. Anything that can be domesticated. Ferrets, parrots, a sugar baby, just provide a Wiki link to show that it can be domesticated. Animals that cannot be domesticated and sold in pet stores (ie: Bears, Tigers, Lions, etc.) can NOT BE USED.
4. Age. 1 human year = 3.5 animal years. Small animals (sheep, hamsters, etc.) convert 1 human year = 7 animal years.
5. Room. This can be a Neighborhood (exe: Yorkshire Fields), an Operation (exe: The Cooper Gang), a lair (exe: The Batcave), a Region (Gondor), or Other (make it up!). These ideas are NOT BINDING, but any Room must follow the basic premise above.
6. Appearance. Pretty self explanatory. Provide enough details to allow us to fully visualize the character without overloading. You will need to provide at least the following: Fur color, collar appearance, and gear they are wearing with associated coloration.
7. Personality. This will form the core of your interactions in the Rooms. If your character is crazy, then it will do crazy things like blow up an orphanage for kicks (which is also illegal in the Forum, so DON’T DO IT).
8. Random Notes. Trivia about the character. Have fun with this.
9. Weaponry: Weaponry can be key in Extreme Ways. Due to the darker and grittier style, weaponry can commonly become important. Individual rooms will have their own rules, such as brooms for the Mashed Potato Men from Mars room and katanas for the Feudal Japan room.
10. Equipment: Equipment is similarly important. It determines how the characters will interact with the environment and conduct action-adventure style movements. Again, individual rooms will have their own rules, with the MPMfromM room equipped with Space suits and such while the Feudal Japan room will have ninja-suits. Don’t forget that explosives are available at all times as long as it’s canon for the room.
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
Used with permission from Vault-Tec, the SPECIAL trait organization system assigns point values to your traits of Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Maximum 10 and minimum 2. You have 42 points to distribute among the traits.
1. Strength: physical ability to move things, carry loads, and punch people in the face. 2 = a mouse. 10 = Can Carry a Heavy Machinegun Without Issue
2. Perception: the amount that you are related to Legolas in LotR. IE: your ability to see things in the distance as well as your ability pick up on body language and such. 2 = Uber-nerd without glasses. 10 = Legolas
3. Endurance: Your HP. 2 = Mario in Super Mario Bros. 10 = The ability to get an arm chopped off and go “whatevs”.
4. Charisma: Your ability to influence people, whether that be romance or outright lying. 2 = Ugly Betty. 10 = The World’s Most Interesting Man.
5. Intelligence: the amount that you are related to Einstein. 2 = Brain Damaged. 10 = Einstein.
6. Agility: the amount that you are related to Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin. 2 = Unable to walk without tripping. 10 = Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin.
7. Luck: the amount that you are related to Joy Toye during the Battle of Brecourt Manor. For those who don’t know, Joe survived two grenades going off under his freaking butt without a scratch. THAT is luck. 2 = Walk out door and bash face into said door. 10 = Joy Toye at Brecourt Manor.
Small animals (ie: mice, hedgehogs, etc.) take a -2 hit to either Strength or Endurance. Animals with special abilities such as flight and echolocation (among others) only have 36. The ability will make up for it.
PLEASE NOTE WHAT STAT(S) YOU ARE USING IN PARENS AT THE END OF AN ACTION SEQUENCE.
Finally: go take the quiz at the following link. If you score 20 or below, you’re fine. Otherwise, rework your character to get below that score. I CAN TELL IF YOU FUDGED IT.
http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm
(The following is based off of but modified from rules originally penned down by Brittles and Buckdida. Mad Props to those two for being such BAs. Anything that looks or sounds quoted probably was.)
Young animals, such as pups, cut either their strength or endurance by half (rounding down) and neither of those stats may be above 7, and their intelligence can not be above 5. Young animals simply have not had enough time in the world to develop their bodies and minds. (Ages younger than 10.5 years old/3 human years)
Old animals can not have agility or endurance scores above 4. Old age simply slows people down. (Ages older than 70/20 human years)
SPECIAL points must be whole. You can’t split them (i.e. S-4.5 P-5.5 E-6.5 etc).
You may only have up to two main characters. Secondary minor characters, such as humans or other random pets, are allowed, but their involvement should be minimal. The reason is simple: Too many pets = not enough character development = blowing things up instead of actually RPing.
Guest Characters: So, sometimes, you get an idea for a new character, or you want to have someone who's part of your main character's backstory show up. With a character limit of two, what do you do?
Make a guest!
--Players have two main characters which are played at all times.
--Players have one guest character slot
--You can have a pool of 3 guest characters to swap between (bringing your total characters up to 5)
--Players can swap out the guest at the start of each arc, and only then.
--"Strike Characters" are characters that are only used ONCE, but do not add to your guest character pool. They take up the guest character slot when used.
--Guest and Strike Characters are NOT WAYS TO GET OUT OF BINDS. You wrote yourself into one. You must suffer the consequences.
RP Rules: These rules are incanted to ensure that everyone has fun, and that everyone participates in the community as a whole. There’re the forum rules and house rules. Pay attention to both, or you could risk being reprimanded. I’m sorry, but these things are necessary!
Dark Tendencies will operate on an almost Zero Tolerance policy. Seriously, I do NOT want the entire Mod Posse descending on me for one of you guys doing something stupid. I will PM you ONCE. Then I will report you. End of Discussion.
Forum Rules: These rules have to do with the community as a whole. Check the main forum rules thread. All regular forum rules apply here as well. The following are special reminders for rules that have been broken in the past.
-The forum is rated PG-13: Stay within that limit for ALL of Extreme Ways related things, or you will be removed from the RP and given a warning.
-Swearing: If and when your character might swear, self censor all of it, or the mods (especially Buckdida) will get annoyed.
-Politics: It’s flamebait, pure and simple. However, this is an extreme gray area, as characters could have political ideals, particularly with pet rights. In context of the pets and comic, it can drive an entire arc if done well (Communists V. Captialists, for example). Done badly (Obamacare V. Private Sector, for example) will engage the Almost Zero Tolerance Policy.
-Stay in good standing: I will assume that you aren’t a total butt (where butt = a swearword starting with B). If I receive news that you ARE being a total butt, you will be banned from the RP. If you return, I or the RM has the authority to report you and possibly get you banned from the Forums.
House Rules: Rules added so that the RP runs smoothly.
-Stay canon!: Stay on genre in your rooms, and remember that Housepets! is still Nirvana and Rick is still the Buddha.
-RP canon is IC thread: Story and character development and interaction is only "real" in your "In Character" thread. Anything that might be done elsewhere is considered "non-cannon" and does not affect the IC thread or its story.
-Mind the stat gap: The stats for your character are more of a guideline then a hard set rule. However, this does not give you an excuse to godmod or powergame with your character. Mind your limits…and mind what a stat 10 and a stat 2 can do before you take them.
One stat is not a replacement for another: Keep in mind that something such as luck is no replacement for any other stat. Your luck 10 is not going to help your strength 2 when you’re tying to push a car! Perhaps you might be able to get good footing in the mud to push it out, but that thing still isn’t going to budge…without the help of another character, that is.
Character control: When you’re fighting someone, you can’t go: “I punched” and wait for the other guy to go “I punched back”. The character control limits are ONLY off for combat scenes and ONLY for exchange of blows. You MUST keep the other character IN CHARACTER. ANY attempt to make the other man lose for the lulz will cause you to be reported.
Acceptable Example:
“Frank pulled a Right-hand Reverse Back Chop and impacted Luke’s face with enough force to break his nose. With a yell of pain, Luke recoiled, waving his arms for balance, before returning fire.”
Wait for the next post.
Avoid scripting: Some scripting is okay…like brainstorming ideas of where you want the current scenario to go. Otherwise, plotlines and plotholes can emerge when characters you can’t control don’t stick to the script you set for them. While this is a work of fiction, let's avoid using the cop out, "A wizard did it."
No crossovers in the IC threads: The time-space continuum is breakable only WITHIN any one thread.
Participate in the entirety of the forums: There are two other main boards; use them! Please make an effort to interact with the community beyond the RP when you can. While this is more of a suggestion than an actual rule, remember that this is a webcomic community, not a roleplaying one! Be sure to comment on the comic and emerge from the Roleplaying cave every now and again!
Addendum For Catnip and Other Such Things: Catnip has appeared before in the comic, and thus, is okay to use in the RP in great moderation, though should more often than not be avoided (might be hard to avoid at parties though, and occasionally, people eat the wrong things by mistake). This means there may be no severe addicts allowed. Furthering that, Alcohol is simply NOT allowed. If it MUST be there, use the creative equivalent: Catnip Tea. Again, no "tea-aholics," or anything similar. Treat Anise, the catnip equivalent for dogs, the same way. If anyone mentions smoking, it is automatically catnip or anise depending on the pet. (Or perhaps ferrotone.) Mind that any other substance is not allowed, and warnings can be issued if they are brought up.
Posting Organization:
This is the main OOC. Here, you post character sheets, organize new neighborhoods, and ask general questions about Extreme Ways. However, nothing else is allowed here. If found, it will simply be ignored.
However, the will be a OOC for each neighborhood, in which you can discuss and comment on plot, ask questions to other RP’ers, and do some light scripting if necessary. If someone wants to do something…radical, shall we say, with the neighborhood, (like a time skip, or dropping an arc and ending it early) it must be put to a vote in the relevant OOC!
Of course, there are then the different In Character, or IC threads…differentiated by their neighborhood name. This is where you post for your character! Make sure you post in the right neighborhood, as mentioned in your character sheet.
Do not make OOC only posts in the IC threads. That’s what the OOC is for.
Recommendations:
If you have a problem with another player, try to discuss your problem with them, and work it out. If you can't, then contact me (FunkyChickenFace) via PM.
Players can interact more easily with your characters if you put a link to your character sheet and stats in your signature. This is entirely optional.
Some players complain that, "They can't seem to get their foot in the door." The answer to this is quite simple: Take your character and force him/her to interact with another character! Jump on someone! Attack them! FI-AH YO’ LAZAR!!!!
Crossovers:
Did I say this already? I’ll say it again: YOU MAY NOT BREAK THE TIME SPACE CONTINUUM TO JUMP INTO ANOTHER RP.
Health
Each point you assign to Endurance will equal ten points of health. So an individual with Endurance +4 will have 40 HP. You lose five HP for each weak hit, 10 for each hard hit, 20 for each Crippling Hit (ie: break a kneecap), and ½ your health for each “head shot”.
Damage
Damage is based off the adjectives used, the body part being attacked, and the stat points used.
For example: “Mike smashed his shovel into Tom’s skull (Mike’s Str = 8).”
With the combination of the adjective “smash”, the fact that it’s Tom’s skull, and Mike’s Strength of 8, this would be counted as a “head shot”.
COMBAT
SPECIAL Factors
After much discussion with Buckdida, RockstarRaccoon, and other experienced GMs, I've decided to ditch the combat system. It's up to the RMs of each room to come up with a combat system on their own. By default, rooms will run on "free form". IE: The moderator watches to make sure the fight doesn't get out of hand or outside of a character's abilities. Again: Deus Ex Machina is NOT ALLOWED.
ACKNOLWLEDGMENTS:
Buckdida, for being my mentor. Seriously. There is no way in a blue moon that this could have even got to here without Buckdida’s guidance. Over the course of two weeks, Buckdida has patiently guided me through the steps of writing these rules without freaking out (much).
Neko, Rubin, CY_Law, and some other people from the #BsM channel on mIRC. Those formulas you see up there? Those were their ideas. Buckdida helped too, but these guys all contributed massively. They formed ideas and launched them in rocket ships while Buck pointed them in the right direction and I caught them.
Buckdida again, simply because he was that awesome.
…
I can’t think of anyone else, so THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
IF I MISSED ANYBODY. Please PM me and I’ll add you to the Acknowledgments. Seriously, you’re help was important.
OKAY NOW
ROOMS:
Yorkshire Fields: Follows a more traditional Neighborhood Format. In essence, you live in a city that is not only expanding rapidly and encroaching on the wild, it's also ruled by an iron-fisted company called BIZMART CO. Expect fast posting rates, possibly with multiple pages a day. That's why the IRC is so useful. Try and survive, kiddies.
URL: https://www.housepetscomic.com/forums/v ... 94&start=0
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