**Special Clues in this whole 1st post.. look for them and then when you post your CS, send me the secret code in a PM :) Do NOT post it in the post along with your CS, JUST in a PM to me, k? Thanks<3**
** Forgive me for this poor excuse of a plot. I wrote it back when I was a freshman in high school, and was barely getting into writing plots of my own. >.< Not much was edited except for a few little details. **
Storyline & Plot
** Forgive me for this poor excuse of a plot. I wrote it back when I was a freshman in high school, and was barely getting into writing plots of my own. >.< Not much was edited except for a few little details. **
You're young, and living life to the fullest. Your school, among quite a few others have been chosen to participate in a week long trip to study the wildlife in the African Savanna and Rainforests. What better opportunity could you as for, right? Your grades are up, you’re involved with school activities, your life is normal.. until the day of the flight that is. “May all the flight passengers please fasten their seat belts. The captain is about to take off shortly, so all electronic devices must please be turned off, now. Thank You.” You smile, excited for where the plane you are aboard is going to be taking you; Africa. The senior class of 2016 at (-- in your CS is where you will write down what college your character is attending, it can literally be anywhere.. doesn't have to be the US, but the flight will be leaving from JFK Airport!--), is taking a two week trip to study the life of the African Savanna bush, for an extra credit project (--For whatever class you choose, just as long as you can give a good reason WHY your class was chosen to be able to participate.--) due, when you get back to the states. You’ve been packing months ahead of time, and now that it is finally here you don’t know how to act, mainly because of the excitement and anticipation.
About another 8 hours go by and the flight attendant has announced that you are now souring through the skies above Africa, and you’re wide awake from the nap you took along the ride. As you lean over to look out the window, you see amazing landscape and tiny dots of animals on the ground below. You take a deep breath and lay back in your seat closing your eyes, amazed that you are actually in another country. “We are going to be experiencing a little turbulence, so the captain has asked us all to remain in your seats till the conclusion of this flight. Thank You.” says one of the flight attendant. ((Post your username **first** in a PM that you will send to me if you want to join this :)) You glance around at all the other students, those you've been going to school with for the last few years, and those you don't know that attend other schools. As you tighten your seat belt and get comfortable, you glance out the window and see nothing but dark clouds. You frown. Just a second ago the skies were clear and blue, but now it was nothing but darkness all around you. You sigh, and sit tight, closing your eyes while you wait for the flight to come to an end. The attendant announces that there will be a delay, and the plane can not land right away so there will be a detour made. Flying over the very savanna grasslands you will be going through to study throughout the week.
The last thing you see as your eyes dart open, is the person on the opposite side of you letting out a panicked scream. The last thing you hear is an emergency warning echoing through the plane saying, “Mayday, this is not a drill! Please fasten your seatbelt and hold on tight!” The last thing you feel, is a sudden pain in your lower back and neck, as you yourself let out a gut wrenching scream. Then...nothing. Blackness, silence...nothing. Your mind is alert and thoughts of death run through your mind, as you just lay there. Eventually, you gather your strength and open your eyes slowly; blinking a few times. Flashes of black and blue cross your vision, like it would when you first open your eyes in the morning. Blinding light is pouring in from the broken window beside you, and there's a thick smell of smoke hanging in the air. Fire! ((Write down “is” after the first thing i told you.)) You groan and lift your head up slightly, getting clear view of your surroundings. 'Wha….What Happened?' you think to yourself, taking everything in. The plane had crash landed on it’s belly, and broken glass from the windows scattered everywhere. Looking out the broken window itself, you can see tree branches and leaves making their way inside. As you glance around you at everyone else in the cabin, either unconscious or worse. A gasp escapes you, and your hand lifts to your mouth as your eyes land on your guide, Mr. Donaven. Lets just say his body was twisted and mangled in ways that one should never be in.
As you hurry to undo your seat belt, all that has happened crashes down on you at once. Most of the students and teachers are all, potentially, dead. The plane has crashed in the middle of no where, somewhere in Northern Africa. Go on a field trip, they said. It would be FUN, they said. At least you still get to study wildlife! ..you'll just also be defending yourself from it, in the process of making your way back to civilization. ((Write down “lost in..” after what I have already told you.))
(-- This is just an example of what could have happened, you do not have to use this as a guideline for your first post after the plane takes flight & eventually crashes.. Like I said, just an example. You write up your own, but start out from when you arrive at the airport, please! --)
Rules
Respect The GMs: Sure, sometimes we make weird calls or say something that's not quite PC. Realize that the admin's have a hard job, the job of telling you that you are wrong and you need to change something. We don't like doing it but we have to sometimes. That also means that when things come too heavily into question, you need to let us deal with it. You can make our jobs easier by reading these rules and adhering to them. We promise, you'll like us a lot more if you do. We also encourage and welcome discussion on why an admin made a certain call. If you talk to us like people and not like we're your most hated high school enemy then there's a rather good chance you'll change our minds on some things...
*I Survived ... Till Now Co-GM: [haven't decided.. a friend may be joining, and if he does, he will take this place]
((Write down "the middle of" after the 3rd thing I've already told you))
Same Forum, Same Rules: You are in a sub-sector of the RolePlayGuild forums. The Forum Rules and CoC are the over-arcing rules. Know them, love them, abide by them.
No Dirty/Sexual Content: Absolutely no sexual content allowed. Romantic situations are always welcome in your story-telling, however they will remain completely innocent. Anything more touchy-feely than a kiss will be given an Inappropriate Content Warning.
Respect Your Fellow RPer: This involves basic netiquette.
* Don't yell at someone (USING ALL CAPS LIKE THIS IS YELLING EVEN IF YOU DON'T MEAN IT TO BE). Use exclamation points, bold, italics, whatever you want to make your point but don't yell in all CAPS. It's just simply rude.
* Realize we have people who identify with different religions, maybe a lack of religion, sexual orientations, locations, races, ages and whatnot. We don't expect you to be perfect but we do expect you to show a little maturity.
* If they do something in the RP that you think is wrong or illegitimate, ask them why they did it and if they'd change it. Discuss in the OOC or Private Message what the problem is. If a resolution can't be gotten to, ask myself or an admin to step in and we'll help you fix the problem. (It's usually good practice to STOP the RP if this happens, that way you don't have to go back and say "Ignore these posts" or go back and edit them.)
* Don't be childish. If myself or an admin asks you to fix a mistake, change something that isn't right or whatnot, just do it please. Don't make a fuss about it.
No "Bunny-moding": This means taking over another player’s character. Usually this kind of thing happens innocently enough but ends in major fights over what actually is happening. "*Vrynn attacks Corey with a vicious slash to his face and Corey drops to his knees in pain*" This is bunny-moding. Instead of allowing Corey to react to the attack, Vrynn assumed she hit him and told him how he was going to react. This is not acceptable RP. Never assume you know what the other character will do. (Sometimes, someone gives you explicit permission to run their character while away. This is the only time bunny-moding is acceptable.)
No God-moding: This one should be pretty easy. God-moding is when a character is able to do whatever they want, whenever they want with little or no consequences. People cannot dodge bullets. This is not allowed. This is also important for character creation as there are certain limits within this RP that must be adhered to.
No OOC in RPs: Most of the RPs we have going on have their own OOC (Out Of Character) thread that corresponds. If you have random chatter to contribute that doesn't involve the RP, take it to these threads where you can spew randomness, embed videos, and generally be dorky to your hearts content. Having unrelated chatter in the middle of the RP threads is distracting to all the players, including you. When you need to say something out of character in the middle of an RP, such as to ask a question about a character's action, always use double parenthesis ((Like this.)), or "OOC: (insert what needs to be said here)." to speak OOC. This helps differentiate the chatter from the RP.
No Double Posting: Basically, this means let the other characters/players have a chance to react to you before you try continuing what is going on or just walk away from the conversation altogether. If you have two or more characters that you're RPing with but forgot to post as one, there is an [Edit] button on the bottom of your post. Use it. Don't double post. If more than 2 days have passed and nobody has responded to you, or if you know factually that your RP buddy is gone for a long while, then it is okay to post again.
All RPers, new and old, have room to improve our story-telling and interaction abilities so here are some tips to keep in mind to help everyone improve..
Roleplaying Tips
Clarity: Be clear about what is happening in your posts and try to make sure the other RPers understand. They will be acting on what they think you meant. Other RPers will post responding to the new posts and a long line of actions can form alarmingly fast. Confusion can cause massive problems if not cleared up quickly and can cause a lot of disruption to the RP as the line of actions may be undermined. Try to minimize confusion as it breaks the flow of the RP by being very precise with actions and their intended effect. (Remember, it's bunny-moding to force it to affect the other character, best to tell them what you want to happen and let them react accordingly.)
Collaborative Story: Remember that everyone else has an equal part in the RP's story. Give them time to do the things they want, don't change the story radically without asking others (Especially if you've made a large post. Changing it then having people go back to re-read it can be bothersome) and always leave room for their stories.
Consistency: Have your character act in ways that are typical of them. It sounds like common sense but it's often overlooked. While RPing an inconsistent character you're not really RPing just one character but many. In short it can lead to confusion. It can be helpful to write down the major personality quirks your character has and refer to that from time to time to remind yourself how your character should react in certain situations.
Drama: The point of every story is the emotion it makes the reader feel and every RP is basically a story. The general tips of good RPing are the same as good writing. One that stands out above all else is try to have a good taste of drama in your character and their actions. How to include drama? A heated argument between two characters is dramatic. A character hanging on for dear life as other characters struggle to save them. In other words any situation that the reader genuinely believes your character might die is dramatic. Any deep emotional interaction between characters is dramatic. Don't be afraid of "non-action" because those are the times when you get to reveal your cool or misguided past and either gain sympathy, empathy or maybe even jealousy or hatred from the other characters.
Respect the Other Characters: Respect the other characters and what they can do and what they have been through. Remember that no character is the 'main character' and that each character is probably something it's player is attached to.
Be Aware of Your IRL Situation: Keep in mind what your work schedule, sleep schedule and time zone is compared to other RPers. If you find that you're having to force yourself or someone else to stay up too late or you want to RP with someone who is never on at the same time as you, consider changing your strategy. Sometimes you just have to accept that you can't RP with certain people due to these very real time restrictions. This also goes for double-posting. Give the other players time to respond and never expect someone to respond to you quickly. Give it up to a day just in case someone was called away for a chore or a phone call before you post again.
When in doubt; Rewind!: If the situation is too muddy and everyone is fighting over what should have happened, that couldn't be right, how dare you etc... then just throw up a vote. If 75% of the players in an event agree that rewinding to an earlier point and replaying the situation is for the best, then please do. We want to have fun, not create problems.
((Put "nowhere" after the last piece of info I gave you))
Character Creation Form
** Yes, you have to use this CS form.. this is the minimum you have to fill out, but if you'd like to add your own little improvements to it be my guest! **
:: Personal Information ::
Full Birth-Given Name :: [ Give us your whole, real name. If you changed it from the name given at birth, please provide that as well. ]
Preferred Name // Nickname :: [ Provide the name you would rather go by. ]
Sexual Orientation & Gender :: [ Gender is obvious, as for S.O., you should know what you are. ]
Established In: [ What is your birthdate and age? ]
Anyone In Your Sights? :: [ Currently crushing on anyone?? Already have a significant other? ]
Also Knowing :: [ Tell us a little more about yourself, anything extra that you may wish to share with us. ]
:: General Information ::
Current Attended College :: [ Self explanatory, don’t you think? ]
Class You’re Enrolled In Participating In Trip :: [ Again, quite self-explanatory. ]
Contents of Suitcase :: [ What all did you bring along with you? You were only allowed to bring 10 things, I hope you listened to that part of the instructions. ]
Contents of Carry-On Bag :: [ What did you bring with you on the plane? A small backpack or handbag is allowed with 7 items only. ]
Song That Best Describes Me :: [ What song best describes you? Is there a song out there you favor that seems to have been made to fit you perfectly? ]
:: Other Information ::
Here's an Inside Look at How I’ve Lived :: [ Give us a background history on where you came from, what's gone on in the last year since the outbreak first began and how you've managed to make it this far. ]
How Some People Might See Me :: [ Tell us about yourself. What is your personality like? (please write a good, decent paragraph.. no one or two liners please. -___-) ]
Standing Before a Mirror, I See :: [ In a decently descriptive manner, tell us what you look like. Give us a well-written description as if you were trying to explain your appearance to a blind person! ]
Accessories, Tattoos, Scars, etc. :: [ Do you wear any jewelry, sport any body art or have any battle wounds? Show and tell time! ]
Photographed Picture of Myself :: [ We'd like to acquire a good photo of you for identification. Please choose your best snapshot of yourselves. :} (to clarify, not of YOU, but your character.. unless you are making yourself as the character then by all means have at it!) Do not give us drawings or an anime version of yourself. We want to see your true, beautiful/handsome face. :3 (If there is an issue, and you would rather hand draw your character, then please talk to either myself or a Co-GM about your predicament.) ]]
