<![CDATA[Mesalia Forums - Guides for Submission]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/ Fri, 01 May 2026 20:55:55 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[[WIP] Guide to Character Creation]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=600 Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:32:44 +0000 Brewstone]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=600 This guide is still a Work in Progress. Read it, give feedback, but do not take it as law.

Introduction: I submitted this guide to the Mesalia enjin site over two years ago. I saved it and have carried it with me through the years. I edited it to be more generic, edited it to be more specific, and then tried to move it back into terms of Mesalia. The poor girl's a mess. Please give me some feedback on this, when it was first submitted it generated a fair amount of traction and interest, I believe it could genuinely help. However, this is a large task. Something this broad will have mistakes and issues and things have certainly changed in the two years since it's been Mesalia formatted. So, drop me some feedback so this can be a wonderful resource for players, new and old alike.

Current Work List:
-Section about playing the opposite sex
-Section about doing research for your characters
-Section on the setting (It's medieval, it's not high fantasy, realism)
-Redo the skill section a little bit, edit some wording, shoe-in the current skill guide.
-[Potential] Include what types of technology are available and around. Possibly include a link to the rune guide or some more information regarding that. This might require a bit of staff collusion.
-[Potential] A list of things that do not exist in Mesalia, such as creepers and other minecraft specific things that don't exist. Also, technology that doesn't exist in the setting such as cars and planes and things of that nature. This and the previous are more detailed things to be put into the section regarding the medieval time period and setting in general.
-[Potential]Add links to some online test type things that test for Mary Sue-ness.
- update this to be Mesalia current.

This is a large effort, don't expect this to suddenly be done overnight. I'd rather this guide be perfect and wonderful, rather than rushed and not so great.

Guide to new character creation


Welcome! My name is Brewstone and I've been roleplaying for a very long time. I've done Mesalia, I've done D&D, I've done a ton of other RPGs. So trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Now, I've seen many different characters, some good and some bad, some dull, some interesting. As such, I think I am qualified to write a short guide on what to do to make a good character. For people entirely new to roleplay and for more experienced people looking to make a new character, all are free to use what you will.


Professions

Well, you've thought of a great new character. S/He's cool, fun, fancy, and a real badass. But wait. This is an RP server. Not an RPG. Listen, we all want to play awesome ninjas, murderers, thieves, and the like but they can be extremely difficult to play. If you make a character with a limited skill set it is hard for your character to survive. On the other hand, if they have a ton of skills you won't have fun with playing out any of your weaknesses. I highly suggest that you pick an easier to RP character as your first character, or even second. Until you get a good feeling of how the server works, it's best to keep it simple. I've made a list of professions and assigned a difficulty of playing it. If you're new to RP I suggest you start with an easy one. If you're not new to RP but new to the server it might be good to start with a medium one. Do what feels comfortable, but remember, don't pick a profession if you can't do it justice.

Easy:
Miner
Farmer
Lumberjack
Shopkeeper
Any sort of profession that involves gathering materials. These characters always have a way to contribute to society, and it's easy to strike up conversation with other players as your character provides needed materials.

Medium:
Guard
Huntsman
Politician
Builder
Any sort of lawful fighter. Professions that don't bring anything of worth into society by themselves require a bit more skill to roleplay properly. A guardsmen is essentially useless if no one is committing crimes and a politician can be impossible if there's no government in place. However, a more skilled roleplayer can take advantage of these situations a still get their character involved.

Hard:
Murderers
Thieves
Crazies
Seductress
Any character that is highly chaotic. Characters that don't bring anything positive into society are very hard to play. Frequently they will be shunned by other characters because of their nature. It requires a very skilled roleplayer to be able to use this to their advantage and create unique roleplay based around the hatred for their character. If you are new, you should stay away from professions such as these.


Balance

Wonderful! You've made your new character and you have a profession chosen. But...is s/he balanced? What does balance mean? Well, would the character win about half the time against an equally skilled character? How many skills does your character have? Is he a master swordsman/blacksmith/builder? Think about what you are capable of. Use that as a basis of what sort of skill levels your character would have. For example, I make a new character that fought in the war so he learned to fight, he helped with the building of defenses and kept his own weapons in good repair. Therefore he would be a skilled fighter with some skill in building, with a specialty with defensive fortifications, and a very small ability to craft and maintain weapons. A good suggestion to make a new character, if you're not sure, is to give your character one trained skill, one skill with proficiency, and one weak skill, remember this applies to characters that are about 20 and is not the only way to go about it, it's a general guideline. Of course other skills can be added for character depth such as singing or playing a musical instrument, but remember that these take time to learn as well. I've added a short list of skills sorted into categories to help you think of some.

For more in-depth skill discussion, I suggest you take a look at the official skill guide here.

Combat:
Sword fighting
Hunting
Archery
Hand to hand fighting
Any skills that affect combat. Most people will know how to hold a knife, even if poorly, but few people will know how to properly fence. Remember that certain skills are harder to learn than others and require more time to become good at them.

Building:
Carpentry
Masonry
Black smiting
Architect
Towns need buildings. Buildings require maintenance. People need small things built. Builders, of any nature, are always needed. And please consider the fact that "building" is rarely a skill on its own. Maybe you're a mason and work with stone, maybe you're a blacksmith and work with metal. Rarely is the skill "builder" descriptive enough, and it really does need some depth to it.

Gathering:
Mining
Lumberjack
Fishing
Farming
Gathering professions are the backbone of any town. Sure, it might be that some people can survive off the land, but a scribe isn't going to know how to mine minerals. There are tons of types of gathering and every single one is needed. Maybe your character tended berry bushes and so they know how to find berries. Maybe they were a lumberjack and can bring in wood. There is always space for gatherers in Mesalia.

Domestic:
Cooking
Healing
Tailoring
Brewing
If half the town is out gathering things, the other half had better be using it. Many of these skills are needed and provide great opportunities to roleplay. Please consider the phrase "show, don't tell", especially in these professions. It's easy to say "She chops the vegetables." but it's more interesting to say "She chops the vegetables with a fast rolling motion, rocking the knife back and forth on the cutting board."

Character depth skills:
Singing
Playing an instrument
Artist
Storyteller
Lying
Things that don't offer any major advantage over another character. These skills are something that most people pick up while doing other things. People learn to play the guitar while working as a guard, or they tell stories to pass the time. Please remember that you actually have to roleplay these skills, so if you know nothing about painting and couldn't accurately describe how your character paints, it might be best to pick another skill.


Personality

So far, so good. You have a profession, skills, are balanced, and are ready to get into the RP! But wait, how does your character interact with others? Seeing as how the server is based mostly around non-combat RP it is important that your character's personality be well developed. It is similar to being balanced. Being the mean villain that hates everyone might be fun for a while, but what about when s/he meets a character that makes them rethink their life? What about when your character gets lonely and desires company? The same applies to the noble knight. No one is perfect, what happens when you encounter someone that makes your character angry? Or constantly ridicules them for their beliefs? Every character needs to have depth, and to have depth, you need character traits. There are good traits and there are bad traits. There are even traits that are neither good nor bad. Try to pick two to five good traits and one to three bad traits. More of these might show up within the RP and some of these might change. Neutral traits are fair game. Feel free to pick however many of these you think might be appropriate. A list of some of these has been included.

Good traits:
Honest
Caring
Independent
Smart
Wise
Friendly
These traits are mostly those that help you have good relationships with other characters. If you have these traits other people will get along better with your character and will smooth things out. Try to pick the traits that fit your character. If you have a thief, they probably wouldn't be too honest about what they do.

Neutral traits:
Drinking
Smoking
Manipulative
Stubborn
Religious
Hiding emotions
These traits make your character feel alive. If there's down time do they roll up a dog ear? Do they get nervous? Variety is the spice of life and with a character, it needs to be spicy. If you're doing the same things over and over, it gets boring for you and the people you're roleplaying with. Keep it fresh, and add some traits to make it a lot more fun.

Bad traits:
Violent
Jealous
Addictions
Depressed
Temperamental
Fears
These traits, while bad for your character, are great for you. What if your character is easily frightened and they are faced with a terrifying situation? Will they bull through their fear? Or will they sit there crying like a little child? What if they're jealous? Conflict breeds interest. This doesn't mean that there constantly needs to be fighting between the characters, but if your character has weaknesses, they can be extremely fun to interact with, for you and for others.

Backstory

This section could be miles long. There is an almost limitless number of things that help you get accepted and things that hurt your chances. Here is a quick rundown of what you need to do to get your backstory accepted.

1. Add relation to the lore. Show how the lore of the server affected the character. Or explain why the lore doesn't affect the character. If your character is going to live in the world, make sure that it shows that they do.

2. Use proper spelling and grammar. Not all of us are Grammar Nazis so we won't destroy you for making some mistakes. However, having good grammar and spelling makes it much easier to understand the backstory. If the whitelisters can't understand it they'll make sure to point it out and you'll have to go back over it. I understand that some of our players are non-native English speakers. That is 100% fine. Just use a quick spell check, there are plenty online, to go over the story and it should correct about 90% of the issues.

3. Follow the correct application format. This might seem a bit obvious but some people seem to not follow this simple and easy rule. If you don't follow the format you're not going to get accepted, simple as that.

4. Avoid words like magic. There is nothing more scary than finding an application with the word magic in it when we strive for realism. If a performer does amazing tricks those may be referred to as magic by characters in your story, but it’s actually sleight of hand and a well trained performer. It's not actual magic. This also applies to other things. Keep your story realistic. If a dragon comes out of nowhere and destroys an entire nation, it's going to have to be rewritten.

5. Use paragraphs to split the story up. Separating the story based on what happens in each paragraph makes it much easier to read. Remember, a happy whitelister is less likely to see faults and more likely to see the well written story beneath.

6. Have the story end in the setting. The RP takes place there so you better hope that your character is present.

7. Logic logic logic! Does everything make sense? Could your character destroy an entire army by him/herself? Does he even have skills in sword fighting? Does the story explain how your character got each skill and give a fair idea on how they acquired their personality? Make the story flows and have each event make as much sense as the last. If your story is a list of events, get ready for a rewrite. But if your story is a giant mess that's hard to follow, also get ready for a rewrite.


Skins

This section could be as long as anything I've ever seen. However, I'll simply touch on a few things.

1. Use shading. Shading makes the clothes and hair of a character look alive. No person has clothes and hair that are exactly the same shade as every other part. This can be hard to do, but work at it. Remember, there are dozens of resources on the internet for people looking for a good skin.

2. Make the skin fit your character. If your character is blond with green eyes and tanned skin, don't have a skin with black hair, blue eyes, and incredibly pale. This applies to clothes as well.

3. Make your skin look natural. If they eyes are too big, or the mouth is overly large, it might be strange. The biggest thing here it to keep relative sizes in mind when making a skin. Be careful with it.

4. Don't overuse the burn tool or auto shading. It can lead to the skin looking messed up and gross. The key here is moderation. If you use it lightly, it can add texture to a skin that is otherwise lacking it, if you use it too much, it looks like your character has a horrifying disease.

5. Don't be afraid to do something and then fix it. A skin is more than half mistakes that just happen to look nice. If you mess up, you can always go back and fix it.

6. The skin portion of the skin needs to look natural. Remember the relative size of each pixel you place. This applies to scars and tattoos. If your character has an arm tattoo, make sure it's properly sized, and looks good.

Closing notes

This section is other things that can spice up a roleplay for a character and general tips that don't belong anywhere else.

1. Small things. I'll take a line of common knowledge and apply it here. Enjoy the small things. Give your characters some small interesting things that make them unique. Add quirks or tells that each character has. Add in an accent, maybe they talk like a pirate or they slur their words. This can make an rp more interesting, humorous, or longer. People can easily react to these small things and quickly join into an rp or they can be used for character development.

2. Goals. Make sure that your character has goals. Many people make a character sheet on the forums to keep track of relationships, goals, and personality. It is understandable if you don't do this but, no matter what you do, you need to have goals for each character. Imagine playing a game with no purpose. You opened the game and had fun but then after a while it would dull. Characters are the same way. Always have a few goals, some short term and some long term, to have your character work on. They could be as serious as "Make a shrine to commemorate my dead parents." or as silly as "Find out why cows have spots." Have something for your character to do and have something to work for. Otherwise the character will dull very rapidly.

3. Take breaks. Life is hard enough to live as one person, so imagine how hard it is to live as two people. Take a break from Mesalia occasionally, even if it's just for a day, so that you don't get burned out. It's better to play less over a long period of time than to play constantly for two weeks and then leave because you lost interest.

4. Get involved in the community. The reason we're here is to have fun, but don't forget that Mesalia is made up of other people. Get in the Skype chat, talk with the other people there. Get to know them. At the end of the day, we're a community, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to be a part of.

5. Be bold. If you see an RP going on and you're not a part of it, don't be afraid to walk up in-character and see what's going on. Of course, don't be rude about it, but more often than not, people will be glad to have you join in the RP. The more the merrier.

This guide is just general tips and some helpful hints to playing on the server. But remember, it is just a guide. Use it as such, don't treat it as a holy text. Sometimes, I'll be dead wrong. Times might change and nothing in here even applies anymore. So take everything in here with a grain of salt. Good luck out there, it can be rough.]]> This guide is still a Work in Progress. Read it, give feedback, but do not take it as law.

Introduction: I submitted this guide to the Mesalia enjin site over two years ago. I saved it and have carried it with me through the years. I edited it to be more generic, edited it to be more specific, and then tried to move it back into terms of Mesalia. The poor girl's a mess. Please give me some feedback on this, when it was first submitted it generated a fair amount of traction and interest, I believe it could genuinely help. However, this is a large task. Something this broad will have mistakes and issues and things have certainly changed in the two years since it's been Mesalia formatted. So, drop me some feedback so this can be a wonderful resource for players, new and old alike.

Current Work List:
-Section about playing the opposite sex
-Section about doing research for your characters
-Section on the setting (It's medieval, it's not high fantasy, realism)
-Redo the skill section a little bit, edit some wording, shoe-in the current skill guide.
-[Potential] Include what types of technology are available and around. Possibly include a link to the rune guide or some more information regarding that. This might require a bit of staff collusion.
-[Potential] A list of things that do not exist in Mesalia, such as creepers and other minecraft specific things that don't exist. Also, technology that doesn't exist in the setting such as cars and planes and things of that nature. This and the previous are more detailed things to be put into the section regarding the medieval time period and setting in general.
-[Potential]Add links to some online test type things that test for Mary Sue-ness.
- update this to be Mesalia current.

This is a large effort, don't expect this to suddenly be done overnight. I'd rather this guide be perfect and wonderful, rather than rushed and not so great.

Guide to new character creation


Welcome! My name is Brewstone and I've been roleplaying for a very long time. I've done Mesalia, I've done D&D, I've done a ton of other RPGs. So trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Now, I've seen many different characters, some good and some bad, some dull, some interesting. As such, I think I am qualified to write a short guide on what to do to make a good character. For people entirely new to roleplay and for more experienced people looking to make a new character, all are free to use what you will.


Professions

Well, you've thought of a great new character. S/He's cool, fun, fancy, and a real badass. But wait. This is an RP server. Not an RPG. Listen, we all want to play awesome ninjas, murderers, thieves, and the like but they can be extremely difficult to play. If you make a character with a limited skill set it is hard for your character to survive. On the other hand, if they have a ton of skills you won't have fun with playing out any of your weaknesses. I highly suggest that you pick an easier to RP character as your first character, or even second. Until you get a good feeling of how the server works, it's best to keep it simple. I've made a list of professions and assigned a difficulty of playing it. If you're new to RP I suggest you start with an easy one. If you're not new to RP but new to the server it might be good to start with a medium one. Do what feels comfortable, but remember, don't pick a profession if you can't do it justice.

Easy:
Miner
Farmer
Lumberjack
Shopkeeper
Any sort of profession that involves gathering materials. These characters always have a way to contribute to society, and it's easy to strike up conversation with other players as your character provides needed materials.

Medium:
Guard
Huntsman
Politician
Builder
Any sort of lawful fighter. Professions that don't bring anything of worth into society by themselves require a bit more skill to roleplay properly. A guardsmen is essentially useless if no one is committing crimes and a politician can be impossible if there's no government in place. However, a more skilled roleplayer can take advantage of these situations a still get their character involved.

Hard:
Murderers
Thieves
Crazies
Seductress
Any character that is highly chaotic. Characters that don't bring anything positive into society are very hard to play. Frequently they will be shunned by other characters because of their nature. It requires a very skilled roleplayer to be able to use this to their advantage and create unique roleplay based around the hatred for their character. If you are new, you should stay away from professions such as these.


Balance

Wonderful! You've made your new character and you have a profession chosen. But...is s/he balanced? What does balance mean? Well, would the character win about half the time against an equally skilled character? How many skills does your character have? Is he a master swordsman/blacksmith/builder? Think about what you are capable of. Use that as a basis of what sort of skill levels your character would have. For example, I make a new character that fought in the war so he learned to fight, he helped with the building of defenses and kept his own weapons in good repair. Therefore he would be a skilled fighter with some skill in building, with a specialty with defensive fortifications, and a very small ability to craft and maintain weapons. A good suggestion to make a new character, if you're not sure, is to give your character one trained skill, one skill with proficiency, and one weak skill, remember this applies to characters that are about 20 and is not the only way to go about it, it's a general guideline. Of course other skills can be added for character depth such as singing or playing a musical instrument, but remember that these take time to learn as well. I've added a short list of skills sorted into categories to help you think of some.

For more in-depth skill discussion, I suggest you take a look at the official skill guide here.

Combat:
Sword fighting
Hunting
Archery
Hand to hand fighting
Any skills that affect combat. Most people will know how to hold a knife, even if poorly, but few people will know how to properly fence. Remember that certain skills are harder to learn than others and require more time to become good at them.

Building:
Carpentry
Masonry
Black smiting
Architect
Towns need buildings. Buildings require maintenance. People need small things built. Builders, of any nature, are always needed. And please consider the fact that "building" is rarely a skill on its own. Maybe you're a mason and work with stone, maybe you're a blacksmith and work with metal. Rarely is the skill "builder" descriptive enough, and it really does need some depth to it.

Gathering:
Mining
Lumberjack
Fishing
Farming
Gathering professions are the backbone of any town. Sure, it might be that some people can survive off the land, but a scribe isn't going to know how to mine minerals. There are tons of types of gathering and every single one is needed. Maybe your character tended berry bushes and so they know how to find berries. Maybe they were a lumberjack and can bring in wood. There is always space for gatherers in Mesalia.

Domestic:
Cooking
Healing
Tailoring
Brewing
If half the town is out gathering things, the other half had better be using it. Many of these skills are needed and provide great opportunities to roleplay. Please consider the phrase "show, don't tell", especially in these professions. It's easy to say "She chops the vegetables." but it's more interesting to say "She chops the vegetables with a fast rolling motion, rocking the knife back and forth on the cutting board."

Character depth skills:
Singing
Playing an instrument
Artist
Storyteller
Lying
Things that don't offer any major advantage over another character. These skills are something that most people pick up while doing other things. People learn to play the guitar while working as a guard, or they tell stories to pass the time. Please remember that you actually have to roleplay these skills, so if you know nothing about painting and couldn't accurately describe how your character paints, it might be best to pick another skill.


Personality

So far, so good. You have a profession, skills, are balanced, and are ready to get into the RP! But wait, how does your character interact with others? Seeing as how the server is based mostly around non-combat RP it is important that your character's personality be well developed. It is similar to being balanced. Being the mean villain that hates everyone might be fun for a while, but what about when s/he meets a character that makes them rethink their life? What about when your character gets lonely and desires company? The same applies to the noble knight. No one is perfect, what happens when you encounter someone that makes your character angry? Or constantly ridicules them for their beliefs? Every character needs to have depth, and to have depth, you need character traits. There are good traits and there are bad traits. There are even traits that are neither good nor bad. Try to pick two to five good traits and one to three bad traits. More of these might show up within the RP and some of these might change. Neutral traits are fair game. Feel free to pick however many of these you think might be appropriate. A list of some of these has been included.

Good traits:
Honest
Caring
Independent
Smart
Wise
Friendly
These traits are mostly those that help you have good relationships with other characters. If you have these traits other people will get along better with your character and will smooth things out. Try to pick the traits that fit your character. If you have a thief, they probably wouldn't be too honest about what they do.

Neutral traits:
Drinking
Smoking
Manipulative
Stubborn
Religious
Hiding emotions
These traits make your character feel alive. If there's down time do they roll up a dog ear? Do they get nervous? Variety is the spice of life and with a character, it needs to be spicy. If you're doing the same things over and over, it gets boring for you and the people you're roleplaying with. Keep it fresh, and add some traits to make it a lot more fun.

Bad traits:
Violent
Jealous
Addictions
Depressed
Temperamental
Fears
These traits, while bad for your character, are great for you. What if your character is easily frightened and they are faced with a terrifying situation? Will they bull through their fear? Or will they sit there crying like a little child? What if they're jealous? Conflict breeds interest. This doesn't mean that there constantly needs to be fighting between the characters, but if your character has weaknesses, they can be extremely fun to interact with, for you and for others.

Backstory

This section could be miles long. There is an almost limitless number of things that help you get accepted and things that hurt your chances. Here is a quick rundown of what you need to do to get your backstory accepted.

1. Add relation to the lore. Show how the lore of the server affected the character. Or explain why the lore doesn't affect the character. If your character is going to live in the world, make sure that it shows that they do.

2. Use proper spelling and grammar. Not all of us are Grammar Nazis so we won't destroy you for making some mistakes. However, having good grammar and spelling makes it much easier to understand the backstory. If the whitelisters can't understand it they'll make sure to point it out and you'll have to go back over it. I understand that some of our players are non-native English speakers. That is 100% fine. Just use a quick spell check, there are plenty online, to go over the story and it should correct about 90% of the issues.

3. Follow the correct application format. This might seem a bit obvious but some people seem to not follow this simple and easy rule. If you don't follow the format you're not going to get accepted, simple as that.

4. Avoid words like magic. There is nothing more scary than finding an application with the word magic in it when we strive for realism. If a performer does amazing tricks those may be referred to as magic by characters in your story, but it’s actually sleight of hand and a well trained performer. It's not actual magic. This also applies to other things. Keep your story realistic. If a dragon comes out of nowhere and destroys an entire nation, it's going to have to be rewritten.

5. Use paragraphs to split the story up. Separating the story based on what happens in each paragraph makes it much easier to read. Remember, a happy whitelister is less likely to see faults and more likely to see the well written story beneath.

6. Have the story end in the setting. The RP takes place there so you better hope that your character is present.

7. Logic logic logic! Does everything make sense? Could your character destroy an entire army by him/herself? Does he even have skills in sword fighting? Does the story explain how your character got each skill and give a fair idea on how they acquired their personality? Make the story flows and have each event make as much sense as the last. If your story is a list of events, get ready for a rewrite. But if your story is a giant mess that's hard to follow, also get ready for a rewrite.


Skins

This section could be as long as anything I've ever seen. However, I'll simply touch on a few things.

1. Use shading. Shading makes the clothes and hair of a character look alive. No person has clothes and hair that are exactly the same shade as every other part. This can be hard to do, but work at it. Remember, there are dozens of resources on the internet for people looking for a good skin.

2. Make the skin fit your character. If your character is blond with green eyes and tanned skin, don't have a skin with black hair, blue eyes, and incredibly pale. This applies to clothes as well.

3. Make your skin look natural. If they eyes are too big, or the mouth is overly large, it might be strange. The biggest thing here it to keep relative sizes in mind when making a skin. Be careful with it.

4. Don't overuse the burn tool or auto shading. It can lead to the skin looking messed up and gross. The key here is moderation. If you use it lightly, it can add texture to a skin that is otherwise lacking it, if you use it too much, it looks like your character has a horrifying disease.

5. Don't be afraid to do something and then fix it. A skin is more than half mistakes that just happen to look nice. If you mess up, you can always go back and fix it.

6. The skin portion of the skin needs to look natural. Remember the relative size of each pixel you place. This applies to scars and tattoos. If your character has an arm tattoo, make sure it's properly sized, and looks good.

Closing notes

This section is other things that can spice up a roleplay for a character and general tips that don't belong anywhere else.

1. Small things. I'll take a line of common knowledge and apply it here. Enjoy the small things. Give your characters some small interesting things that make them unique. Add quirks or tells that each character has. Add in an accent, maybe they talk like a pirate or they slur their words. This can make an rp more interesting, humorous, or longer. People can easily react to these small things and quickly join into an rp or they can be used for character development.

2. Goals. Make sure that your character has goals. Many people make a character sheet on the forums to keep track of relationships, goals, and personality. It is understandable if you don't do this but, no matter what you do, you need to have goals for each character. Imagine playing a game with no purpose. You opened the game and had fun but then after a while it would dull. Characters are the same way. Always have a few goals, some short term and some long term, to have your character work on. They could be as serious as "Make a shrine to commemorate my dead parents." or as silly as "Find out why cows have spots." Have something for your character to do and have something to work for. Otherwise the character will dull very rapidly.

3. Take breaks. Life is hard enough to live as one person, so imagine how hard it is to live as two people. Take a break from Mesalia occasionally, even if it's just for a day, so that you don't get burned out. It's better to play less over a long period of time than to play constantly for two weeks and then leave because you lost interest.

4. Get involved in the community. The reason we're here is to have fun, but don't forget that Mesalia is made up of other people. Get in the Skype chat, talk with the other people there. Get to know them. At the end of the day, we're a community, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to be a part of.

5. Be bold. If you see an RP going on and you're not a part of it, don't be afraid to walk up in-character and see what's going on. Of course, don't be rude about it, but more often than not, people will be glad to have you join in the RP. The more the merrier.

This guide is just general tips and some helpful hints to playing on the server. But remember, it is just a guide. Use it as such, don't treat it as a holy text. Sometimes, I'll be dead wrong. Times might change and nothing in here even applies anymore. So take everything in here with a grain of salt. Good luck out there, it can be rough.]]> <![CDATA[A Roleplaying Guide]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=269 Sun, 07 Jul 2013 17:21:43 +0000 Zarkaylia]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=269 Guide to Roleplaying
About Roleplaying
Roleplaying is, in essence, taking on the role of another person (usually one you created) and facing the trials and problems of their day-to-day life. It may sound simple and easy, but it's an art, and like all arts, it requires practice to perfect. There are tons of mistakes many roleplayers make daily, and anyone who knows that these things are, in fact, mistakes will be in absolute agony every time they see one of these mistakes made. It is the goal of this guide to make sure you know all about these mistakes, as well as give you advice on how to avoid making them.

I'll start off with one of the biggest misconceptions about roleplaying. Roleplaying is never, ever about your character being happy. Your character might want it. You might want it. Problem is, it won't happen. Day-to-day drama and the like will make it impossible. Some people try to bend the rules of roleplaying in order to make their characters have better fortunes. All this does is annoy people and take away the joy of roleplaying out the attempt to fix the problem normally. Nearly every new roleplayer believes that the character has to be happy for you to have fun roleplaying, and shedding this foolishness is the first step to becoming a great roleplayer. You do not need your character to be happy, roleplay is all about having fun playing in the character's shoes, and really, having a character whose life is absolutely perfect is no fun at all. It gets boring very quickly, trust me.

Now, I mentioned the "rules of roleplaying" earlier. I suppose you're wondering what those are. Unfortunately, there is no rule list that will help you choose the best way to react to every situation, as every character is different, every player is different, and every situation is different. You need to decide how your character would react in various situations, and, as mentioned in the "Character Creation Guide," your backstory will help with this. That's one of the reasons we ask for detail. If you don't know what happened to your character in the past, how do you know what he'll do in the present? Fear not, though, there are a few rules that are nearly universally accepted by roleplayers, and I'll share these with you, along with a few situational tips that will more than likely come in handy at some point.


1. Keep true to your character: This is the number one thing all roleplayers need to know. If your character wouldn't do it, you will know, but you may be tempted to go against your character for OOC reasons. Try your best to never do this. It will inevitably kill all joy in roleplaying for you, eventually.


2. IC and OOC are entirely separate: Here's a big one. Some people get angry at someone when their character does something mean IC, and that is probably the most harmful and pointless thing one can do when roleplaying. You and your character are entirely different people. Nothing anyone does OOC should affect how your character treats them IC, and nothing they do IC should affect you OOC. Whenever you allow the line to blur, it can ruin friendships or completely destroy roleplay.


3. Never force actions onto another: Again, pretty important. Never make someone else do something just because you or your character want it. This is called "power gaming." For instance, you should not say, "Joe punches Bob in the face, shattering his nose." That is power gaming in the extreme, as you not only decided that the punch hit Bob, but that it broke his nose. Normally, both the success and result of success in any roleplay is decided by the person to whom the action is addressed. So, Joe ought to say, "Joe swings a punch at Bob's face." And then Bob would say either, "Bob dodges the punch easily, and sends one in return," or "The punch connects with Bob's nose, shattering it." Or any other result he decides, as long as it did not force anything on Joe. For more information, check out the Guide to Roleplay Combat

Please note that power gaming isn't only done in combat, it is pressuring someone OOC to do something IC. If you want someone's character to make a decision, and you keep pestering them to make that decision in OOC chat, that is power gaming as surely as forcing a punch would be. Please note that if anyone power games you, you are not only permitted, but encouraged to report them to the staff. They will deal with it swiftly. Try to get a screenshot by pressing F2, so you can prove that it happened.


4. Your character does not know everything you do: Wow. We really do have a lot of "important" rules. Heh. Well, this one is pretty self-explanatory. If you know that Bob is planning to murder Joe because of what Bob told you in OOC chat, your character cannot know it and move to stop Bob. That would be called "metagaming." You know everything your character does, but he knows only what he has seen or been told by someone IC.


5. You don't always win: This ties in with that big misconception I mentioned earlier. Your character may be good at combat, but you can't let him win every time. If someone is better skilled in whatever the contest is, whether it be combat or a race, then they ought to win, unless your character has a way to get an advantage. Remember, OOC you are not out to make your character win, only to do what he would do. Sure, if he gets lucky, he might win, but in general, that won't happen.


6. Try to create roleplay: When everyone is standing around, waiting for someone else to roleplay with them, nothing ever happens. Really, the only way to make roleplaying fun is to actively look for people to roleplay with. For instance, if your character is the adventurous type, he might take a friend along to go exploring. Not only is this fun roleplay, but if they get lost or are gone for a long period of time, the town might organize a search party, not to mention the roleplay at the town that will happen because of any friends or loved ones worrying about your missing character. If your character's shy, you could still initiate a conversation by having him trip, drop something, ask for help of some kind, or the like. Just make sure you do not repeat the same excuse for starting roleplay every time you see someone. Really, if your character trips every time he sees someone, it can get a bit boring, heh.


7. Take it slow: Your character has amnesia or a speech impediment? Don't let him recover his memory within a few IRL days or take a couple of speech classes and suddenly be capable of giving oratory. It really is fun to roleplay your character's weaknesses. It spices up the action a bit and gives you something to talk about IC other than the normal, humdrum activities your character goes about doing daily. The same goes for wounds and relationships. Really, it isn't much fun to meet someone one day, and the next be their best buddy, or get stabbed in the gut and get up and be able to walk around the next day. Try to draw the building of a relationship IC out into a thing that takes weeks or months IRL rather than a quick plot that might take a day or two. Roleplaying is like reading a book, sometimes; you definitely want your character to have subplots going on, and these sorts of little things can give him the depth that comes from playing a character for a long time.


8. Keep your character fun to play: If you find that he is growing dull, have him begin changing through the daily course of events. If, say, he is a gruff, uncaring warrior, and you want someone a bit more emotional, you could wait for someone close to him to get hurt, and then have that begin a change deep in his heart that slowly brings him to be more compassionate. Even if no one gets hurt, you could have him realize that life really isn't that great when he bottles everything up inside. Just remember, though, that the "take it slow" tip applies here.


9. Always use emotes: Here's a great one when it comes to roleplay appearance. Always describe what your character is doing in detail. Great detail. I'm not saying you need to write ten paragraphs for when your character says hello to a new person, but try to spice it up a bit. I'll use a character example here. Imagine you are playing a shy girl. Since your character isn't really outgoing, she wouldn't approach people (Not part of this tip. That's number one up above. Heh.), but this other person, say an outgoing girl, says hello to her. Saying, "Hello." Really doesn't cut it, since it doesn't get across the point that she is shy. Try to use maybe stutter, ellipsis (The ... things), or the like when appropriate. Again, this usually isn't enough. If she says, "H-hello..." She could just as easily be terrified as she could be shy. It's especially important to use these great things that many of us here refer to as emotes!

Emotes are, in general, those things that let you show your character's facial expressions, tone of voice, and any sort of body language. To continue the shy girl illustration, she would be more likely to say, "*shyly* O-oh...Hello... *looks down, blushes*" than the previous two examples. See how much more you can show, even with three simple actions? For those of you who aren't really used to roleplaying, you may want to try narrative-style roleplay. It really is a great deal easier, especially for readers, since it's essentially having your character talk like he or she would in a book. Instead of using asterisks (*) for actions and normal text for speech, it involves using normal text for actions and marks spoken word with quotations, like this: The girl blushes a little, and says shyly, "O-oh...Hello..." She looks down, trying to hide her blush.

Really, the choice is yours. It all depends on what's easier for you. All that's really necessary are emotes. It doesn't matter which style you use. Just try to show as much of your character's motion as possible. I personally try to make at least half of all my roleplay the use of emotes. It really does bring your character to life. Try it for a bit; trust me, you won't be disappointed.

This brings me to my final tip. I can't really make a point out of it, since it's really a very simple one. Don't carry things in your hand OOC unless it is IC. It's really very annoying to see someone carrying a stick around while talking to you when they aren't really holding anything IC. IG (in game) actions don't necessarily mean IC actions, but it really does cut down on the annoyance factor.

I hope this guide has been informative and useful to you, and that it has shown you a few aspects of roleplaying that you could improve upon. If it helps anyone at all, the effort I've put into this is completely worth it. Good luck!

Written by: Sawses]]> Guide to Roleplaying
About Roleplaying
Roleplaying is, in essence, taking on the role of another person (usually one you created) and facing the trials and problems of their day-to-day life. It may sound simple and easy, but it's an art, and like all arts, it requires practice to perfect. There are tons of mistakes many roleplayers make daily, and anyone who knows that these things are, in fact, mistakes will be in absolute agony every time they see one of these mistakes made. It is the goal of this guide to make sure you know all about these mistakes, as well as give you advice on how to avoid making them.

I'll start off with one of the biggest misconceptions about roleplaying. Roleplaying is never, ever about your character being happy. Your character might want it. You might want it. Problem is, it won't happen. Day-to-day drama and the like will make it impossible. Some people try to bend the rules of roleplaying in order to make their characters have better fortunes. All this does is annoy people and take away the joy of roleplaying out the attempt to fix the problem normally. Nearly every new roleplayer believes that the character has to be happy for you to have fun roleplaying, and shedding this foolishness is the first step to becoming a great roleplayer. You do not need your character to be happy, roleplay is all about having fun playing in the character's shoes, and really, having a character whose life is absolutely perfect is no fun at all. It gets boring very quickly, trust me.

Now, I mentioned the "rules of roleplaying" earlier. I suppose you're wondering what those are. Unfortunately, there is no rule list that will help you choose the best way to react to every situation, as every character is different, every player is different, and every situation is different. You need to decide how your character would react in various situations, and, as mentioned in the "Character Creation Guide," your backstory will help with this. That's one of the reasons we ask for detail. If you don't know what happened to your character in the past, how do you know what he'll do in the present? Fear not, though, there are a few rules that are nearly universally accepted by roleplayers, and I'll share these with you, along with a few situational tips that will more than likely come in handy at some point.


1. Keep true to your character: This is the number one thing all roleplayers need to know. If your character wouldn't do it, you will know, but you may be tempted to go against your character for OOC reasons. Try your best to never do this. It will inevitably kill all joy in roleplaying for you, eventually.


2. IC and OOC are entirely separate: Here's a big one. Some people get angry at someone when their character does something mean IC, and that is probably the most harmful and pointless thing one can do when roleplaying. You and your character are entirely different people. Nothing anyone does OOC should affect how your character treats them IC, and nothing they do IC should affect you OOC. Whenever you allow the line to blur, it can ruin friendships or completely destroy roleplay.


3. Never force actions onto another: Again, pretty important. Never make someone else do something just because you or your character want it. This is called "power gaming." For instance, you should not say, "Joe punches Bob in the face, shattering his nose." That is power gaming in the extreme, as you not only decided that the punch hit Bob, but that it broke his nose. Normally, both the success and result of success in any roleplay is decided by the person to whom the action is addressed. So, Joe ought to say, "Joe swings a punch at Bob's face." And then Bob would say either, "Bob dodges the punch easily, and sends one in return," or "The punch connects with Bob's nose, shattering it." Or any other result he decides, as long as it did not force anything on Joe. For more information, check out the Guide to Roleplay Combat

Please note that power gaming isn't only done in combat, it is pressuring someone OOC to do something IC. If you want someone's character to make a decision, and you keep pestering them to make that decision in OOC chat, that is power gaming as surely as forcing a punch would be. Please note that if anyone power games you, you are not only permitted, but encouraged to report them to the staff. They will deal with it swiftly. Try to get a screenshot by pressing F2, so you can prove that it happened.


4. Your character does not know everything you do: Wow. We really do have a lot of "important" rules. Heh. Well, this one is pretty self-explanatory. If you know that Bob is planning to murder Joe because of what Bob told you in OOC chat, your character cannot know it and move to stop Bob. That would be called "metagaming." You know everything your character does, but he knows only what he has seen or been told by someone IC.


5. You don't always win: This ties in with that big misconception I mentioned earlier. Your character may be good at combat, but you can't let him win every time. If someone is better skilled in whatever the contest is, whether it be combat or a race, then they ought to win, unless your character has a way to get an advantage. Remember, OOC you are not out to make your character win, only to do what he would do. Sure, if he gets lucky, he might win, but in general, that won't happen.


6. Try to create roleplay: When everyone is standing around, waiting for someone else to roleplay with them, nothing ever happens. Really, the only way to make roleplaying fun is to actively look for people to roleplay with. For instance, if your character is the adventurous type, he might take a friend along to go exploring. Not only is this fun roleplay, but if they get lost or are gone for a long period of time, the town might organize a search party, not to mention the roleplay at the town that will happen because of any friends or loved ones worrying about your missing character. If your character's shy, you could still initiate a conversation by having him trip, drop something, ask for help of some kind, or the like. Just make sure you do not repeat the same excuse for starting roleplay every time you see someone. Really, if your character trips every time he sees someone, it can get a bit boring, heh.


7. Take it slow: Your character has amnesia or a speech impediment? Don't let him recover his memory within a few IRL days or take a couple of speech classes and suddenly be capable of giving oratory. It really is fun to roleplay your character's weaknesses. It spices up the action a bit and gives you something to talk about IC other than the normal, humdrum activities your character goes about doing daily. The same goes for wounds and relationships. Really, it isn't much fun to meet someone one day, and the next be their best buddy, or get stabbed in the gut and get up and be able to walk around the next day. Try to draw the building of a relationship IC out into a thing that takes weeks or months IRL rather than a quick plot that might take a day or two. Roleplaying is like reading a book, sometimes; you definitely want your character to have subplots going on, and these sorts of little things can give him the depth that comes from playing a character for a long time.


8. Keep your character fun to play: If you find that he is growing dull, have him begin changing through the daily course of events. If, say, he is a gruff, uncaring warrior, and you want someone a bit more emotional, you could wait for someone close to him to get hurt, and then have that begin a change deep in his heart that slowly brings him to be more compassionate. Even if no one gets hurt, you could have him realize that life really isn't that great when he bottles everything up inside. Just remember, though, that the "take it slow" tip applies here.


9. Always use emotes: Here's a great one when it comes to roleplay appearance. Always describe what your character is doing in detail. Great detail. I'm not saying you need to write ten paragraphs for when your character says hello to a new person, but try to spice it up a bit. I'll use a character example here. Imagine you are playing a shy girl. Since your character isn't really outgoing, she wouldn't approach people (Not part of this tip. That's number one up above. Heh.), but this other person, say an outgoing girl, says hello to her. Saying, "Hello." Really doesn't cut it, since it doesn't get across the point that she is shy. Try to use maybe stutter, ellipsis (The ... things), or the like when appropriate. Again, this usually isn't enough. If she says, "H-hello..." She could just as easily be terrified as she could be shy. It's especially important to use these great things that many of us here refer to as emotes!

Emotes are, in general, those things that let you show your character's facial expressions, tone of voice, and any sort of body language. To continue the shy girl illustration, she would be more likely to say, "*shyly* O-oh...Hello... *looks down, blushes*" than the previous two examples. See how much more you can show, even with three simple actions? For those of you who aren't really used to roleplaying, you may want to try narrative-style roleplay. It really is a great deal easier, especially for readers, since it's essentially having your character talk like he or she would in a book. Instead of using asterisks (*) for actions and normal text for speech, it involves using normal text for actions and marks spoken word with quotations, like this: The girl blushes a little, and says shyly, "O-oh...Hello..." She looks down, trying to hide her blush.

Really, the choice is yours. It all depends on what's easier for you. All that's really necessary are emotes. It doesn't matter which style you use. Just try to show as much of your character's motion as possible. I personally try to make at least half of all my roleplay the use of emotes. It really does bring your character to life. Try it for a bit; trust me, you won't be disappointed.

This brings me to my final tip. I can't really make a point out of it, since it's really a very simple one. Don't carry things in your hand OOC unless it is IC. It's really very annoying to see someone carrying a stick around while talking to you when they aren't really holding anything IC. IG (in game) actions don't necessarily mean IC actions, but it really does cut down on the annoyance factor.

I hope this guide has been informative and useful to you, and that it has shown you a few aspects of roleplaying that you could improve upon. If it helps anyone at all, the effort I've put into this is completely worth it. Good luck!

Written by: Sawses]]> <![CDATA[A RP Fighting Guide]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=268 Sun, 07 Jul 2013 17:20:08 +0000 Zarkaylia]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=268 These are the guidelines :

- Starting the battle : When you enter a fight you need to understand that it is not just you fighting, on the other side there is another player that would either like to win or, at least be defeated with dignity. The person who seizes the initiative by starting the fight, gets the first round, but always wait for the other person to finish his dialogue. Try not to interrupt the person in his speech too much.

- Crowding out : When you realise a battle has started nearby and both opponents are now RP fighting, don't spam in the local channel and try to either use global or just message each other.

Players about to fight might also want to try and leave the global channel, to ensure that others are allowed to speak and that you have peace and quiet to battle on. Try to warn others that are not participating in the fight, that you are actually starting one, to give them a chance to leave the channel.

What you also should try to do is avoid having more than 2 other people battle nearby unless it is absolutely necessary, as the chat log can become too intense and unreadable. However, even three-on-one battles are completely fine as long as you follow the rule below.

- Take Turns : When you fight you need to make sure the other person has time to react to your action. Remember: No constant spamming, because that is Power Gaming and against the rules. As soon as you post an attempt you WAIT for the other player to answer it, after he answers to your attempt he is allowed to post an attempt to which you need to react to as well. In other words, take turns like this :

A - Player 1
B - Player 2

A's Attack - > B's Block -> B's Attack -> A's Block.

Repeat.

- Roleplaying : When you Attack or Defend yourself, use a diverse vocabulary of imaginative words, what I mean is that : "I stab you, you block" Is really lazy, uninteresting and the opponent will probably demand a proper RP attempt from you.

If you have a hidden weapon, then use it, if your character has a shield then bash with it but do remember to write it down in an interesting way. Also, try talking to each other IC while fighting, to make it more dramatic and fun!

- Power gaming : Out of all things you should try and remember is that you are NOT on Godmode, if you like it or not. If IC you are destined to be defeated or you choose to be, then you DO. Constantly defending yourself from all the attacks of your enemy while dealing lots of wounds to him/her is Power gaming and against the rules.

Always remember to take some hits, whether its bruises, scratches, wounds or gushes and remember to write it out in an interesting way. Also, there is no such a thing as a "Killing" weapon that you can just whip out and kill your opponent, you cannot kill an enemy just because you want to, you need your opponents permission first. Never force anyone into anything.

- Play to your character : If you have written down that you are some sort of "class", like a rogue or assassin or a knight then remember to play out it accordingly to your "class". What I mean is that a rogue uses sneaky techniques to gain advantage of his enemy, not just jump straight into the maelstrom of battle.

Also, some characters use honour and some don't, a Knight for example is likely to NOT fight dirty, whereas a rogue would. Fighting dirty is like using some dirt to blind your enemy, and never cheating or power-gaming.

- Experience in Battle : Take to consideration the experience you and your opponent might have in terms of battle. It is important to understand that one of you might be more trained in the ways of the warfare than the other.

For example, a civilian has little experience compared to a veteran soldier or a knight who has seen many battles and would bear many scars. This however, does not mean you can just dismiss your enemy and power-game by saying "I am one level higher than you, you die" or "I am a veteran, you cannot hurt me". It will just mean that it will be more difficult for the civilian to fight you, however there could also be other, external factors that could give him an advantage against you. Roleplay considerably on both sides.

- Armor : Another point that needs mentioning, if you wear Light armor your mobility is very high but it won't defend you as much, as a Heavy Plate armor would. Remember that in Heavy armor you cannot swim, for you would surely drown rather quickly. Medium armor is a bit of a mix; your mobility is okay and you can still swim a little whilst having moderate protection.

Armor protects you from Injuries, depending on type, but it gets damaged in the process .When your armor is damaged, it doesnt protect you as well as it would before and you might want to visit a Blacksmith IC to fix it.

- Weapons : There are lots of different types of weaponry available out there, from daggers to machetes to claymores. When fighting take in account of what weapon you and your opponent are using against each other.

Some weapons are better in certain situations and some are not. For example, it would rather tricky to block an incoming attack from a hurling claymore using a small dagger, the dagger is likely to fall out of your hand due to the force of the attack. However, it would also be rather silly to use a claymore when attempting to surprise an enemy from behind, or try to pull one out of your sleeve, as it would be very clumsy.

Just like with armor, your weapon takes durability damage and is likely to chip away slowly with each battle, this means it won't be as effective as it was when it was brand new. Self-made or Makeshift weapons are also likely to break even faster, unlike bought ones or crafted using proper tools (IC). You should try to seek a professional Blacksmith to repair all your broken or damaged equipment.

- Injuries : When your character suffers a wound, to the hand let's say, then you need to take account that using this hand will be more tricky to use, and your fighting ability will be reduced. You will also have to wait some time for it to heal (IRL time). Same thing with for example a broken leg, when you suffer such a wound you need to roleplay as if it was actually broken (Scream in Agony and then start Limping heavily, or lay on the floor in a fetal position) and let it heal for at least 7 days (IRL). That means avoiding fights, not getting into some more.

Remember : Not every character has the toughness to just "Walk it off" with some wounds, they might get incapacitated by simply the pain caused from the wound. Play according to you character, because not every character is a generic He-Man without the ability to feel pain.

Also, try to think as to what kind of Injury you are trying to do on your enemy, a stab in the stomach is a definite death, however a 'slash' across the arm might not. Always make sure to phrase it as an "Attempt" rather than an "Action" because not every hit will be automatically successful. This way even if your hit has failed, it will still sound amazingly cool when it happens. Here are some examples on the matter :

"Arathor cuts Falgorn across the chest with his mighty sword" - Bad.

"Arathor swung his mighty sword, aiming for Falgorns chest" - Good.

Can you see the difference now?

(Spamming the opponent with the first example is also a type of Power Gaming)

After suffering an injury you should seek IC medical care, especially with the more serious injuries.

- Lastly : If you break any of the rules, the opponent has the right to report you to a nearest available Mod/Admin. Always remember to report these things, it's important to ensure the quality of the roleplay and that rules are being followed.

Please do not rant OOC, you are showing bad sportsmanship, RP fights are a way to have fun and never to settle OOC arguments.

Guide written by: Project_Epsilon]]> These are the guidelines :

- Starting the battle : When you enter a fight you need to understand that it is not just you fighting, on the other side there is another player that would either like to win or, at least be defeated with dignity. The person who seizes the initiative by starting the fight, gets the first round, but always wait for the other person to finish his dialogue. Try not to interrupt the person in his speech too much.

- Crowding out : When you realise a battle has started nearby and both opponents are now RP fighting, don't spam in the local channel and try to either use global or just message each other.

Players about to fight might also want to try and leave the global channel, to ensure that others are allowed to speak and that you have peace and quiet to battle on. Try to warn others that are not participating in the fight, that you are actually starting one, to give them a chance to leave the channel.

What you also should try to do is avoid having more than 2 other people battle nearby unless it is absolutely necessary, as the chat log can become too intense and unreadable. However, even three-on-one battles are completely fine as long as you follow the rule below.

- Take Turns : When you fight you need to make sure the other person has time to react to your action. Remember: No constant spamming, because that is Power Gaming and against the rules. As soon as you post an attempt you WAIT for the other player to answer it, after he answers to your attempt he is allowed to post an attempt to which you need to react to as well. In other words, take turns like this :

A - Player 1
B - Player 2

A's Attack - > B's Block -> B's Attack -> A's Block.

Repeat.

- Roleplaying : When you Attack or Defend yourself, use a diverse vocabulary of imaginative words, what I mean is that : "I stab you, you block" Is really lazy, uninteresting and the opponent will probably demand a proper RP attempt from you.

If you have a hidden weapon, then use it, if your character has a shield then bash with it but do remember to write it down in an interesting way. Also, try talking to each other IC while fighting, to make it more dramatic and fun!

- Power gaming : Out of all things you should try and remember is that you are NOT on Godmode, if you like it or not. If IC you are destined to be defeated or you choose to be, then you DO. Constantly defending yourself from all the attacks of your enemy while dealing lots of wounds to him/her is Power gaming and against the rules.

Always remember to take some hits, whether its bruises, scratches, wounds or gushes and remember to write it out in an interesting way. Also, there is no such a thing as a "Killing" weapon that you can just whip out and kill your opponent, you cannot kill an enemy just because you want to, you need your opponents permission first. Never force anyone into anything.

- Play to your character : If you have written down that you are some sort of "class", like a rogue or assassin or a knight then remember to play out it accordingly to your "class". What I mean is that a rogue uses sneaky techniques to gain advantage of his enemy, not just jump straight into the maelstrom of battle.

Also, some characters use honour and some don't, a Knight for example is likely to NOT fight dirty, whereas a rogue would. Fighting dirty is like using some dirt to blind your enemy, and never cheating or power-gaming.

- Experience in Battle : Take to consideration the experience you and your opponent might have in terms of battle. It is important to understand that one of you might be more trained in the ways of the warfare than the other.

For example, a civilian has little experience compared to a veteran soldier or a knight who has seen many battles and would bear many scars. This however, does not mean you can just dismiss your enemy and power-game by saying "I am one level higher than you, you die" or "I am a veteran, you cannot hurt me". It will just mean that it will be more difficult for the civilian to fight you, however there could also be other, external factors that could give him an advantage against you. Roleplay considerably on both sides.

- Armor : Another point that needs mentioning, if you wear Light armor your mobility is very high but it won't defend you as much, as a Heavy Plate armor would. Remember that in Heavy armor you cannot swim, for you would surely drown rather quickly. Medium armor is a bit of a mix; your mobility is okay and you can still swim a little whilst having moderate protection.

Armor protects you from Injuries, depending on type, but it gets damaged in the process .When your armor is damaged, it doesnt protect you as well as it would before and you might want to visit a Blacksmith IC to fix it.

- Weapons : There are lots of different types of weaponry available out there, from daggers to machetes to claymores. When fighting take in account of what weapon you and your opponent are using against each other.

Some weapons are better in certain situations and some are not. For example, it would rather tricky to block an incoming attack from a hurling claymore using a small dagger, the dagger is likely to fall out of your hand due to the force of the attack. However, it would also be rather silly to use a claymore when attempting to surprise an enemy from behind, or try to pull one out of your sleeve, as it would be very clumsy.

Just like with armor, your weapon takes durability damage and is likely to chip away slowly with each battle, this means it won't be as effective as it was when it was brand new. Self-made or Makeshift weapons are also likely to break even faster, unlike bought ones or crafted using proper tools (IC). You should try to seek a professional Blacksmith to repair all your broken or damaged equipment.

- Injuries : When your character suffers a wound, to the hand let's say, then you need to take account that using this hand will be more tricky to use, and your fighting ability will be reduced. You will also have to wait some time for it to heal (IRL time). Same thing with for example a broken leg, when you suffer such a wound you need to roleplay as if it was actually broken (Scream in Agony and then start Limping heavily, or lay on the floor in a fetal position) and let it heal for at least 7 days (IRL). That means avoiding fights, not getting into some more.

Remember : Not every character has the toughness to just "Walk it off" with some wounds, they might get incapacitated by simply the pain caused from the wound. Play according to you character, because not every character is a generic He-Man without the ability to feel pain.

Also, try to think as to what kind of Injury you are trying to do on your enemy, a stab in the stomach is a definite death, however a 'slash' across the arm might not. Always make sure to phrase it as an "Attempt" rather than an "Action" because not every hit will be automatically successful. This way even if your hit has failed, it will still sound amazingly cool when it happens. Here are some examples on the matter :

"Arathor cuts Falgorn across the chest with his mighty sword" - Bad.

"Arathor swung his mighty sword, aiming for Falgorns chest" - Good.

Can you see the difference now?

(Spamming the opponent with the first example is also a type of Power Gaming)

After suffering an injury you should seek IC medical care, especially with the more serious injuries.

- Lastly : If you break any of the rules, the opponent has the right to report you to a nearest available Mod/Admin. Always remember to report these things, it's important to ensure the quality of the roleplay and that rules are being followed.

Please do not rant OOC, you are showing bad sportsmanship, RP fights are a way to have fun and never to settle OOC arguments.

Guide written by: Project_Epsilon]]> <![CDATA[[WIP] Mesalia Weaponry and Armour Guide]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=265 Sat, 06 Jul 2013 20:40:04 +0000 Hutchy]]> https://www.mesalia.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=265 This guide is still heavily WIP. So far, the current iteration consists only consists of the light pointers, tips and guidelines that have been written so far. Below is a list of what I hope to do for this guide and post at a later date.

This guide may not contain the answers to all your questions and it is for this reason that if you want the best results you may need to conduct some research of your own.
No word that is posted here is law, and so, there is room for discussion in this topic but we aim for realism and fairness here so all points here should be studied and applied carefully before inquiring.
This guide is the result of one person's research and knowledge and there may be some errors or misconceptions within. Again, it is recommended that you conduct your own research to correct these. If you do find one of these please do not hesitate to post and let the writer know. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Guide to the Weaponry and Armour Present in Mesalia
 
So you're making a character and want them to have one or more weapon proficiencies. That's good!
You want to research your choices before commiting. That's great!
You are reading this VERY thoroughly and giving all points thought. That's Excellent!

The Mesalia setting plays host to a cornucopia of nations, races, cultures and subtypes of each and even more that are yet to be revealed. As the need for weaponry and armour arises, different types of weapon are utilized; from the humble dagger and worn leather padding all the way up to the devastating war hammer and polished full plate armour. This guide is not to say that there won't be additions later as they are brought to Staff's attention ((or as the setting progresses.))

It is important to know how your weapon works, it's pros, it's cons and especially how it is used if you are to use it properly IC.

It has to be remembered that some of these weapons have no IG representation, so it should be brought to the attention of all concerned what exactly your character is using.

This guide does not account for improvised weaponry such as things in the environment that have a blunt or sharp edge that can be exploited. That will be left to your imagination, but please be sensible: No marble-D'artagnan-bust-death-clubs, for example.

But before we get to the actual article, a few notes to consider when you are deciding what weapons your character will use or have experience using.

Finally, this guide does not contain ALL the answers. There is a wealth of knowledge on further weaponry not mentioned in the guide, techniques, materials needed to make and maintain etc. Use this as the first stepping stone to help whittle down your choices to one or more you favour then do a little research. Even Wikipedia will do, just have some knowledge of the weapon beyond what is written here and you're golden.
Weapon Use
Training and Expertise
It is essential that you remember that your character will never just pick up a weapon and become a master on the spot, and when they are used improperly can cause harm to the user as well as it's intended target. In order to become proficient in the use of any weapon it can take years of practice to handle what some may call expertly, even longer, decades even to become a true master of their weapon-art.

That said, there is nothing wrong with your character entering the setting and having a slight head start, prior training, necessity or even natural affinity all have some say in how well your character can use a weapon, but these do not count for much. Only hard practice over a few years can earn a character true expertise. If your character begins as good as they come then it leaves little to no room for improvement and this can detract from the enjoyment of your RP experience and can quickly become boring if Duskspawn fall before them like wheat to a scythe with the character barely taking a scratch.

Lastly, your character should train regularly with their chosen weapon to suggest intimate familiarity with their capabilities and limitation. Both their own and their weapon's. There are often ample opportunities to act this out in RP or even simply allude to it .
It might not seem like much but this is an important factor. Even if your character is a master of a specific weapon, reinforcement and preventing deterioration of these skills is important, especially if they are departed from it for a while.
If by chance they find someone to impart their knowledge onto or vice versa, great! But remember that as with the first point they will never magically absorb all their new master knows instantaneously. At this point, the pupil begins at square one and the cycle begins again.

Fairness in a fight
A further and more expanded guide to a fighting RP and keeping it fair can be found here.

Your character having a weapon does not make them all-powerful. An important part of RP, not just for yourself but others taking part, is fairness and a good sense of realism. An armed character will usually have the advantage over an unarmed character, but skill, as always, plays an important part in this. Someone who is not an experienced fighter with a club may not win against a character experienced in fighting using only their fists. All characters have their weaknesses; if you play against your opponents', the chance of victory swings in your favour, but odds are high that they will play against yours. These principles apply to all combat RPs, whether a weapon is used or not.
The Right Weapon
Size and Strength
Weapons are not one-size-fits-all. Your character's physical size, strength, agility and other factors will play a part in dictating what kind of weaponry a character is suited to using. While, of course, it's not impossible for a small character to wield a huge battle axe and pose something of a threat, their size makes them more suited to something smaller. If they want to be a risk to anyone but themselves. They tend to benefit from smaller weapons while larger characters benefit from larger ones-- they'd be able to use them more effectively due to larger characters' generally greater strength and often the style of use of these weapons requires a good measure of brute force.

Think about your character's physical appearance, are they tall with long arms? Then a weapon that extends that naturally long reach like a spear or a pike would be ideal. Considering details like this can be key. Another is considering how your character moves, both normally and while fighting, if they prefer to remain still and defend then some practice with a shield wouldn't hurt to have. If they prefer to move about and disorient then a paired weapon such as two war axes is likely a better option.

Versatility
Less important then the other tips, but this can help make or break a character's choices of armament. The most versatile of weapons can be used for multiple tasks, not just combat but hunting, construction etc. For example a bow and arrows, an excellent projectile weapon, they can be deadly to approaching enemies and can be used to bring down a hunter's prey too. They can be used on foot and, if they are the right size, on horseback. The same cannot be said for of most melee weapons in a similar situation, however, while they are not really designed for such a purpose, the likes of war and battle axes may be used in construction and lumbering.

Maintenance
An often overlooked trait of our remorseless pieces of metal is that unfortunately they do eventually need some TLC or even break. Failure to maintain weaponry can result in injury to the user and they should strive to take good care of these tools.

Not all weapons are equal in this area, the ones requiring the least maintenance often being simple melee weapons like clubs made from a tree branch. These do not require maintenance per se, but a little cleaning every now and again. A crossbow on the other hand would require cleaning, checking for rot or weakness, checking the torsion and capacity to store kinetic energy of the drawn string and so on.

When considering projectile weapons, ammunition is an important consideration to make. Arrows break, split or get used up and will eventually need replacing. Most of the ranged weapons a character can get their hands on require simple made ammunition of arrows or sometimes small rocks or darts. It should be noted somewhere how much ammunition your character has. Some of your ammunition will not be IC and therefore are not able to be used IC and so on. A small, simple byte of RP where a character fletching or even collecting rocks can remedy this.

All bladed weapons need sharpening eventually, a whetstone or a grindstone are the most common and the best option of sharpening a blade.

While none of these are essentially hard to learn, it is still important that you display your character having some knowledge of these skills.
 
]]> This guide is still heavily WIP. So far, the current iteration consists only consists of the light pointers, tips and guidelines that have been written so far. Below is a list of what I hope to do for this guide and post at a later date.

This guide may not contain the answers to all your questions and it is for this reason that if you want the best results you may need to conduct some research of your own.
No word that is posted here is law, and so, there is room for discussion in this topic but we aim for realism and fairness here so all points here should be studied and applied carefully before inquiring.
This guide is the result of one person's research and knowledge and there may be some errors or misconceptions within. Again, it is recommended that you conduct your own research to correct these. If you do find one of these please do not hesitate to post and let the writer know. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Guide to the Weaponry and Armour Present in Mesalia
 
So you're making a character and want them to have one or more weapon proficiencies. That's good!
You want to research your choices before commiting. That's great!
You are reading this VERY thoroughly and giving all points thought. That's Excellent!

The Mesalia setting plays host to a cornucopia of nations, races, cultures and subtypes of each and even more that are yet to be revealed. As the need for weaponry and armour arises, different types of weapon are utilized; from the humble dagger and worn leather padding all the way up to the devastating war hammer and polished full plate armour. This guide is not to say that there won't be additions later as they are brought to Staff's attention ((or as the setting progresses.))

It is important to know how your weapon works, it's pros, it's cons and especially how it is used if you are to use it properly IC.

It has to be remembered that some of these weapons have no IG representation, so it should be brought to the attention of all concerned what exactly your character is using.

This guide does not account for improvised weaponry such as things in the environment that have a blunt or sharp edge that can be exploited. That will be left to your imagination, but please be sensible: No marble-D'artagnan-bust-death-clubs, for example.

But before we get to the actual article, a few notes to consider when you are deciding what weapons your character will use or have experience using.

Finally, this guide does not contain ALL the answers. There is a wealth of knowledge on further weaponry not mentioned in the guide, techniques, materials needed to make and maintain etc. Use this as the first stepping stone to help whittle down your choices to one or more you favour then do a little research. Even Wikipedia will do, just have some knowledge of the weapon beyond what is written here and you're golden.
Weapon Use
Training and Expertise
It is essential that you remember that your character will never just pick up a weapon and become a master on the spot, and when they are used improperly can cause harm to the user as well as it's intended target. In order to become proficient in the use of any weapon it can take years of practice to handle what some may call expertly, even longer, decades even to become a true master of their weapon-art.

That said, there is nothing wrong with your character entering the setting and having a slight head start, prior training, necessity or even natural affinity all have some say in how well your character can use a weapon, but these do not count for much. Only hard practice over a few years can earn a character true expertise. If your character begins as good as they come then it leaves little to no room for improvement and this can detract from the enjoyment of your RP experience and can quickly become boring if Duskspawn fall before them like wheat to a scythe with the character barely taking a scratch.

Lastly, your character should train regularly with their chosen weapon to suggest intimate familiarity with their capabilities and limitation. Both their own and their weapon's. There are often ample opportunities to act this out in RP or even simply allude to it .
It might not seem like much but this is an important factor. Even if your character is a master of a specific weapon, reinforcement and preventing deterioration of these skills is important, especially if they are departed from it for a while.
If by chance they find someone to impart their knowledge onto or vice versa, great! But remember that as with the first point they will never magically absorb all their new master knows instantaneously. At this point, the pupil begins at square one and the cycle begins again.

Fairness in a fight
A further and more expanded guide to a fighting RP and keeping it fair can be found here.

Your character having a weapon does not make them all-powerful. An important part of RP, not just for yourself but others taking part, is fairness and a good sense of realism. An armed character will usually have the advantage over an unarmed character, but skill, as always, plays an important part in this. Someone who is not an experienced fighter with a club may not win against a character experienced in fighting using only their fists. All characters have their weaknesses; if you play against your opponents', the chance of victory swings in your favour, but odds are high that they will play against yours. These principles apply to all combat RPs, whether a weapon is used or not.
The Right Weapon
Size and Strength
Weapons are not one-size-fits-all. Your character's physical size, strength, agility and other factors will play a part in dictating what kind of weaponry a character is suited to using. While, of course, it's not impossible for a small character to wield a huge battle axe and pose something of a threat, their size makes them more suited to something smaller. If they want to be a risk to anyone but themselves. They tend to benefit from smaller weapons while larger characters benefit from larger ones-- they'd be able to use them more effectively due to larger characters' generally greater strength and often the style of use of these weapons requires a good measure of brute force.

Think about your character's physical appearance, are they tall with long arms? Then a weapon that extends that naturally long reach like a spear or a pike would be ideal. Considering details like this can be key. Another is considering how your character moves, both normally and while fighting, if they prefer to remain still and defend then some practice with a shield wouldn't hurt to have. If they prefer to move about and disorient then a paired weapon such as two war axes is likely a better option.

Versatility
Less important then the other tips, but this can help make or break a character's choices of armament. The most versatile of weapons can be used for multiple tasks, not just combat but hunting, construction etc. For example a bow and arrows, an excellent projectile weapon, they can be deadly to approaching enemies and can be used to bring down a hunter's prey too. They can be used on foot and, if they are the right size, on horseback. The same cannot be said for of most melee weapons in a similar situation, however, while they are not really designed for such a purpose, the likes of war and battle axes may be used in construction and lumbering.

Maintenance
An often overlooked trait of our remorseless pieces of metal is that unfortunately they do eventually need some TLC or even break. Failure to maintain weaponry can result in injury to the user and they should strive to take good care of these tools.

Not all weapons are equal in this area, the ones requiring the least maintenance often being simple melee weapons like clubs made from a tree branch. These do not require maintenance per se, but a little cleaning every now and again. A crossbow on the other hand would require cleaning, checking for rot or weakness, checking the torsion and capacity to store kinetic energy of the drawn string and so on.

When considering projectile weapons, ammunition is an important consideration to make. Arrows break, split or get used up and will eventually need replacing. Most of the ranged weapons a character can get their hands on require simple made ammunition of arrows or sometimes small rocks or darts. It should be noted somewhere how much ammunition your character has. Some of your ammunition will not be IC and therefore are not able to be used IC and so on. A small, simple byte of RP where a character fletching or even collecting rocks can remedy this.

All bladed weapons need sharpening eventually, a whetstone or a grindstone are the most common and the best option of sharpening a blade.

While none of these are essentially hard to learn, it is still important that you display your character having some knowledge of these skills.
 
]]>