Game Conventions

These aren't exactly rules; they're more like guidelines to provide a framework everyone can mutually understand and operate off of. If you'd like to manage posting order in a different way, communicate with the other players in your scene and get a co-sign from all those involved.

How To RP at Dark City

Getting IC

• After you have been announced as an officially sanction PC, check out the PLAYER TOOLS section on Discord. Here you'll find GO-IN-CHARACTER.
  

• If you're already aware of where you'd like to go, you can select one of the five boroughs or Elsewhere, by reacting to the corresponding number. This will unlock that area of the city's rooms for you to access and play in.
• If you're unsure of where you want to play, you react to the LOOKING FOR RP. This will flag you on the User Bar at the very top so everyone can see it (make sure you're online).
  

• You can also head to the FIND-RP room under the PLAYER TOOLS section, and set out a flag! A white flag is used for if you have no idea for a scene and are generally open to any offers. A red flag is used if you have an idea for a setting, scenario, or a specific meeting and are willing to set!
  

Starting A Scene

• Once you have chosen a location and a room, if you're setting the scene we typically have a line to separate past scenes from new ones, and also let others know if they'd like to join what your max limit of players is. Some people do not care for large scenes. This typically looks like this:

Playing In A Scene

• Actions and Dialogue in a scene are played out like:

Sammy set down the pie in front of Dean and waited for a thank you that he knew wasn't coming. They'd only had Boston Creme Pie at the corner store instead of Dean's preferred cherry, but it was better than coming back empty handed.

"What this?" Dean asked.

"It's pie, Dean. You're welcome." Sam sighed and pulled his own salad out of the bag, setting it down on the table in front of him.

"This? This is not pie..." Dean began, pointing towards the confection with contempt. "This is a horror story with whipped cream!"

Things To Avoid

• Try to avoid the use of ::, **, or ~ around action posts.
• Make sure you're using Third Person for your writing.
  • "I step into the room and look for clues." Is incorrect as it's first person. "She steps into the room and looks around." is correct as it's third person.
• Make sure you're not breaking the 4th wall. Posting out of the setting, scene, or game can throw people off. While it can be funny here or there, do not make this a habit.
• Always make sure you're not stealing anyone's agency. Avoid including in your post how people feel about what it is they are experiencing (unless of course you're STing and they are under an effect you must describe). Allow people to react how they will. Should someone not be responding correctly to Intimidation or Social Skills, discuss that with the player OOC and get things back on track.
• Avoid thought-posting. If you thought-post, it's assumed that everyone around you can tell what you're thinking, so that they can respond to it.
• Playing from your phone is heavily discouraged and not allowed in ST scenes at all without express permission.
• The game is R-Rated, but this does not mean we want any NSFW scenes or explicit content to show up on our server. Please keep this your own personal DMs. Fading to black is required.
• Retainers and other NPC allies are meant to be background elements. In ST and PRP scenes, having one player running several characters really takes the air out of the room for the rest of the group and the scene runner. They are not meant to be full fledged frontline foreground alt-PC's, nor are they allowed to participate in scenes at all without your PC present. Our one PC per venue limit is partially meant to prevent these kinds of play. If you want to explore your Retainers more in depth, private scenes where others consent are the proper venue for that.

Speaking OOC or Out Of Character

• Please try and keep all OOC comments, questions, and rolls to a separate OOC room. Typically the OOC-SCENE-CHATTER found in PLAYER TOOLS (with rolls in DICE-ROLLER) but also on occasion a specific ooc room made for your scene, or a Thread.
• If you're posting pictures of outfits, sharing songs, etc.. share these in the OOC room. It'll be better for logs later and is less distracting!

Private RP/Rooms

Some scenes will be private and require a room of their own. For this, head to the PLAYER TOOLS section and go to BOT-COMMANDS.

Please note, you may only use this system once you have been approved and given the @Approved role.

• Use the code !channel create to create a new, private room. No one can see this room except you and the server administrator; this is a security feature that we cannot change. It is suggested that if you'd like to RP about something particularly NSFW, that you go to DMs.

• Use !channel add @User to add a user. You may add as many other users as you like. You must use the Discord handle, not server nickname (but without the #1234).

• Use !channel remove @User to remove a user. You cannot remove yourself or the server admin.

• Use !channel delete to delete the room. This will happen instantly once you send the command, so it is suggested that you take your Log prior to using it.

If you send too many commands too quickly you'll knock this bot off line. Please make sure you read the commands and use them properly. Only the person who creates the channel can add or remove players, and delete the channel (aside from Staff).

Please delete rooms once your scene has ended. If you need a permanent private room, open a ticket to discuss with staff.

Logging A Scene

• When a scene is over, you can choose to log it or not. This is not mandatory unless you're running a scene (including PRPs). To log scenes go here.

Crossover

Read our guide on Crossover for full details. Short story: it's allowed, but within parameters that retain the secrets and mysteries of each splat.

Posting and Post Orders

A strict post order is generally the default, though it can slow down larger scenes.

To alleviate this, if all participants are okay with it, consider using the three post rule (or 3PR), in which players may post again after three people have posted since they have.

Occasional quick interjections, like a single sentence, outside of the post order are generally OK, especially if you're responding to something said directly to or in reference to your character, returning a handshake, or something like that.

Thought Posting

In general, this is to be avoided. There are some instances in which you are playing a scene with someone with whom you have great rapport, and a little sidebar or context can add depth or humor or something else that all the participants can enjoy, but what you should absolutely not do is use thought-posting as a way to establish dispositions that other player characters cannot respond to.

"John thought to himself what a stupid maggot Devin was." doesn't give the player of Devin an opportunity to respond, and it's generally considered passive-aggressive, rude, and self-centric to post this way. As mentioned, while thought-posting is not completely banned, you should use your discretion, and if someone asks you not to do it, or you find yourself making statements about other characters via thought posting and denying them the opportunity to respond, then stop. It is usually just an unpleasant experience for others.

Going AFK

It happens, stuff comes up! Throw a quick ((skip me for now, afk)) into OOC to let the other participants know to work around you for the time being. Try to give an estimate of how long you'll be.

Waiting for Posts

If it's someone's turn and they haven't posted within 10 minutes, it's OK to skip them.

Joining Scenes In Progress

Even if a scene is in a public place and only has a couple of people in it, it's polite to ask if people are game for another person before joining. Sometimes people are in the middle of a specific, unplanned conversation they want to finish before getting interrupted. Sometimes both the parties involved are about to leave, so they may want to save you the trouble (or insulted feeling) of joining just to have them immediately stop RPing. In general, checking first can make everyone feel more comfortable, but we encourage people to ask to join ongoing scenes when they're interested! Don't feel bad for asking.

If someone asks to join a scene and you want them to hold off, think about whether you're ready to have them join after one more round of poses, or if it will be longer than that. If it's longer than that, we encourage you to just turn them down politely, rather than asking people to wait for what might end up being a much longer time than you expect.

Maximum Scene Population

Open scenes usually have a maximum number of participants indicated by the person who set the scene. If it doesn't, and there are already 5 people in the scene, ask if everyone is okay with another joining, and don't take it personally if someone isn't. Sometimes scenes can be overwhelming beyond about 4 or 5.

Making an Entrance

Until your first pose in a scene, your character isn't actually present and can't hear anything that was said, even if it was said in the pose right before yours. This can be waived with the permission of the other people in the scene, especially in cases where it might provide comedic effect or add to the story, but we encourage people to ask first. If anyone in the scene hasn't okayed it, don't do it.

Time and Synchronicity

It's usually assumed a scene is happening on the present day, at close to the present time in New York City.

While participants can agree to have a scene outside the current time and date, it's preferred that you do this judiciously to avoid situations that make something you already did in the future relative to your "past scene" impossible because of something that happened there.

Asking for Dice Rolls

Players can ask other players for dice rolls to see if they notice something, like your character slipping something into their pocket, or that they're holding something back in an answer.

If you accidentally roll the wrong number of dice, do not reroll. If you rolled more than you needed to, subtract the dice results from right to left. So if you rolled 8 when you should have rolled 6, subtract the final two original dice results. If dice exploded from those results, subtract them as well. If you rolled fewer than you should have, roll only the additional dice.

Storyteller Scenes

Our Storytellers work hard to keep scenes moving as efficiently as possible so that you can get as much quality playtime as you can out of a scene. To help them do that, please abide by the following guidances:

1. Unless otherwise stated, ST scenes go by the three-post rule, or 3PR, except when in initiative.
2. When referencing or mentioning another player in your post, @them so it's easier for them to see (Discord will highlight that post for them!)
3. Change your Discord Handle to your Full PC name so it's easier for others to @you, and so the log is easier to cleanup at the close of the scene (all ST'd scenes must be logged).
4. Come prepared. Know your powerset, your abilities, and when they will reasonably apply. Know the core mechanics of the gameline you're playing in. While the ST will answer all of your questions, that's time that you and others don't have to actually play the scene, and it means others are waiting on you to play a game that they came prepared for.
5. Be ready on your turn in initiative. After three minutes of no response, the Storyteller can and may skip your turn. Being ready with your rolls, and having asked your questions beforehand helps keep the momentum of the scene lively and intact.
6. Keep your Character sheet open so you can reference it during the scene. If the Storyteller is using a Scene sheet, keep that open, too, and reference it before asking a question that the sheet might answer, like an enemy's Defense.
7. Avoid the temptation to participate in a Storyteller-run scene from your mobile device. You are generally not as fast as you think you are on a mobile device, and some features, like Scene sheets, may not be supported.
8. If you are in an ST scene, it should be the only scene you are actively participating in.