Sci-fi warm-up (1-on-1)

[Fruitsteak]

Hello! I'm an unapproved member, looking for a somewhat casual roleplay. I've only ever roleplayed through D&D, and am a little uncertain of how to properly participate in in an RP online, specifically on a forum. For now, I'd like to do a 1-on-1 RP, and I want it to be kind of simple. Starting out by bouncing a few ideas around sounds fun to me.

I'm thinking of doing a sci-fi setting, because I've only done fantasy. Well, that's not the true reason for the choice of setting. Honestly, I saw Guardians of the Galaxy the other day and sci-fi is delighting me right now. I think that the idea of approximately two characters building up the sense of adventure to want to hop in a ship and get into trouble could be interesting.

One concern that's on my mind, is that I'm accustomed to the "dungeon master and players" structure of D&D, and that there are other ways of doing it. D&D has rules that restrict what you can do, or add uncertainty. It's there, right down to whether you successfully lie to somebody. It seems that playing on a forum is a bit more of a trusted balance for everybody not to take too much control over the whole thing. More free-form. I'd like to learn how to do this effectively, so the people I'm with have more fun. Please be patient with me, and let me know if I should conduct myself differently.

[WeepingLiberty]

Hmm, a new free form RPer in need of some guidance? You have my attention fellow Sci-fi/Fantasy Lover. May I have the honor of an RP with you?

[Fruitsteak]

Nice to meet you, WeepingLiberty. Is it okay to call you Liberty?
Thank you very much for responding. You may have the honor! I look forward to the RP. Where should we start?

Also, I'd like to warn that tomorrow I'll probably be away, so apologies in advance.

[WeepingLiberty]

Hahaha, yes Liberty is quite alright. I'd shorten yours but Fruitsteak in its entirety is too good to pass up. XD I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

I have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I doubt I'll be online those days anyway. Don't worry about a single days absence, so long as you return eventually. LOL

Where to start, where to start...? Well considering free-form forum roleplaying is new to you, I guess we should start with the basic rules and what you already know. That way I can gauge what kind of story would be best to help you jump right into things.

So, for starters I'll ask you: What do you know about free-form forum RPs?

[Fruitsteak]

Perfect timing, then! Enjoy your classes :D

Very little, but I'll get everything that comes to mind. I'm pretty sure I understand how to format things. It's intuitive, and I've done it while chatting with friends without realizing it. People usually create character sheets so that other players can get the gist of who everybody else is playing. Also, on this forum, people seem to have an OOC thread, as well as a thread for the roleplaying, probably to separate the two levels of communication. In free-form forum RP's, it seems that people trade off posts, describing what changes to the scenario they make, specifically with their character.

[WeepingLiberty]

So you have the basic gist of it, which is good. I like the way you put it as intuitive, because in my opinion writing/roleplaying is an art. You can teach someone how to write, grammar and all that whatnot, but the writer has to have a feel for the story they're writing. Philosophy aside, I'll give you a short run down on the way things are done(at least by me anyway).

Yes, it's a post-by-post set up. I post, then you post... Simple enough when it's two people. It varies for a group. Some groups will determine a posting order, and others it'll be more like a free for all(don't worry there is a warning that will let you know if someone has posted while you were writing).

OOC threads are more common for groups where as private messages, or PMs as they're called, are better for 1x1 RPs. Collaboration is key, it's not just a posting machine. Plots should be discussed and shared with the group, ideas and suggestions should be welcome as well. Planning and communication outside of the roleplay is as important as the posts themselves.


Character sheets are a big help for all parties included in a roleplay. It helps focus the thoughts of the creator as well as give a visual or reference for the other players. Simple CS's are alright but many look for more elaborate ones as a reference to the writing ability of the applicant(as some like a specific level of writer for their games).

Other things that are important to know are the basic rules of Elliquiy. Learn those, love those, live those. As long as you follow the basic rules of the site, you will do fine. On RPs you might find more specific rules for character creation or situations allowed for the RP. Read those before applying to play, and as long as you follow them you will do alright with the other players.

Most of the people I have met are very welcoming and friendly, willing to give a hand, forgive mistakes, help you grow kind of people. It's a wonderful community that I hope you will get to be a full member of. If there's something you don't understand, ask anyone of them(in the appropriate thread) and they will be more than happy to help you with what you need.

I'm sure there is plenty more to talk about, but they're all things you can learn as you go. Terms and whatnot. As of right now I can't PM you because you are not an accepted member, but upon your acceptance(which I hope happens) I'll be able to talk to you through those.

Anything I may have missed you can look up here. Hope this didn't confuse you much. XD
~~

With that out of the way I guess we can jump into RP planning. What do you say? Ready to get this started?

You're looking for the adventurous life right? Time for plot suggestions, I can come up with some for you to choose from, or if you had some ideas of your own, please share! Give me a few minutes for dinner and I'll pop back with some ideas for you.

[WeepingLiberty]

Wow... I posted a ton of stuff right there. Oops, didn't mean for that to get so long, happens right? Hahaha so ideas. Did you have any?

Here's what came to mind for me:

Prison ship has crash landed on some distant planet or moon. Two of the survivors band together to find away back to civilization so they can make their escape?
A large plot arc could take place after that mini one if you wanted, like saving a world/species or if you wanted world domination that's cool too. Dimensional hops, new worlds. Sounds like fun right? Very much like GotG, or so I comprehended it. XD

Or we could have these characters with superhuman abilities and one of them has the ability to travel through time? They could go on adventures to the future or distant past... Those are my sci-fi ideas off the top of my head... I have some other ideas too, but this is sort of all about you at the moment. Haha, so whatever you want to do I'm probably cool with it.

[Fruitsteak]

You didn't post too much. In fact, I found it helpful. Thanks!

I agree that getting to the setup is the next logical progression :D

I like both ideas, and think that the first would form a good starting point. Perhaps there was some sort of conspiracy about our trip, and we uncover that we weren't onboard for the reasons we thought we were? Maybe the ship was shot down by an unknown enemy, or could relate to how one of the people has the superhuman abilities? Then, the larger arc could be related to snippets from that, unless things naturally flow somewhere else.
Also, getting to dimension hop and time travel would be neat. 

[WeepingLiberty]

Oooh conspiracies. You have my attention. XD What they thought they were on their way to prison and instead they were on their way to the hunger games?  Haha, idk. Never have been good with creating conspiracy theories but I can certainly run wild with them.

All of that could work, the conspiracy... Being shot down by an enemy ship... Maybe instead of escaping they get caught by whatever shot them down and they can acquire abilities there?  Or someone on the ship had the ability and that's why it got shot down?

[Fruitsteak]

You didn't type too much. In fact, I found it quite helpful. I feel clearer on what do. Thanks :D

What if there were two conspiracies? We've got the prison ship being shipped to something along the lines of The Hunger Games (I haven't read/watched, but get general idea of it). Whatever it could be, could double as a massive experiment. Then, we have another conspiracy about the ones that attack the ship. 
Here's a proposition for them. What if the attackers are from a parallel universe, and have been replacing people with identical versions? The doubles are used to infiltrate the society, government, underworld, suburbs, and everywhere else. Something/someone could have been aboard our ship that was a threat to their schemes, so they ambushed.
So, we escape, possibly gaining abilities and/or equipment. We've got doppelgängers from another universe and a sketchy government as potential problems. We'll have to be on the move!

[WeepingLiberty]

Congratz on your acceptance Fruitsteak! *Claps excitedly*

Hmm, maybe we should stick with one conspiracy for now. I might get a little confused with that much going on at one time. Let's go with the doppelgangers attacking the ship because someone on the ship is a threat to their plans to replace key members of government/whatever...

I forgot to ask you how you felt about playing more than one character. Do you think you'd be comfortable with that or did you want to start with just one for now?

[Fruitsteak]

Thanks! I'm glad I made it *notices clapping and follows suit*

Yeah, keeping things simple is a good way to start.

I think I'd mainly like to start with one character, but I wouldn't mind taking control of a minor character from time to time. Maybe I'll do more as I go on. I'm fine with you playing as many as you are comfortable with.

I have a flight in a few hours, and will think of characters and other things.

[WeepingLiberty]

I have a couple of hours until my next class so I'll throw together a CS and PM it to ya.

Do you want to be the shady character that's being hunted, or do you want me to take on that role? I think that person should start with an ability(not sure what right now), but it's that ability that threatens them. Maybe they're the time traveler?

Or you could be one of the normal ones that get caught up in the whole thing and gets an ability along the way...

Also, are we human-like or are we whatever alien we can come up with? I totally didn't think about that before...

[Fruitsteak]

Considering that your custom title includes dimensional witch and time traveller, I think it would be fitting for you to have that role ;)
I'd like my character to get abilities later along the line, but start out with a lot of technical knowledge.

(to add clarity, I'm calling the other universe the doppelverse, and the normal universe, the normalverse)
Here's a thought: the beings of the doppelverse have developed interdimensional travel, but the people in the normalverse haven't. If the doppelverse is invading, they wouldn't want to normalverse to be able to hop universes to attack them. The people onboard our ship could be leading the research that would allow that. This could be why they would be a threat, and the reason for the attack.

I think I'd like to play a human, but I would love the universe(s) to be populated with aliens. I'm fine with non-humanoid ones showing up.

[WeepingLiberty]

XD Indeed it does. I'll happily accept a role befitting of my titles. :P

Doppelverse and normalverse... Simple and to the point. I like it. Hahaha, okay... But to get a bit of variety in the group, some should be scientists and others test subjects, right? That's how they can get their abilities, one of the scientists gives them whatever it was that they were going to test on them?? I don't know, just throwing ideas out there.

I'm putting a few finishing touches on the character skeleton, just deciding what information is necessary and which I can take out. Also, I'll send with it one of my characters as an example for you. Might take me a little while, not sure if I can get it to you tonight before I go to bed but I don't have class tomorrow so if not today then most likely tomorrow.