PLAYING in THE CITY RPG General Information Welcome to the CITY rpg. While this page is not intended to replace all the information about the game that can be found by checking out the IC and OOC links situated at the top of the #r-9thcork(City IC/OOC Cork), hopefully, it can provide the basic information that you, as a new player, will need to get started. The CITY rpg is a modern-day, urban role-playing game set in a fictional, anonymous medium sized city located somewhere on the U.S. North-Eastern seaboard. The Waterfront/Harbor is connected by an estuary/River on the City's north end to the Atlantic Ocean somewhere east of the City as depicted on the City Map (#r-map). The Hood to the North is an associated but separate rpg. Characters can crossplay between realms. However, the Hood is a separate rpg with its own guidelines for play,separate from the City, that should be read and accepted prior to playing there. Roleplay here and in the Hood is reality-based, that is, characters are mortal human beings. Vampires, werewolves, elves, beings with superpowers, etc. do not exist and will not be acknowledged. Animal characters are allowed, but they should not be written as having the ability to have spoken conversations with humans. A character may NOT kill, destroy or cause damage to another player's character or rooms without their prior ooc consent. Play is generally P4P or "post for post" style, especially in conflict/combat situations. When playing a fight/attack, the player should not attempt to "call damage" or force play onto another. For example writing "I run in from the street, kick you in the groin so you fall to the floor, and run out, disappearing into the night" is NOT good play. There are too many actions in one post, and few options given the opponent. Better play would be to post arrival and the intention to attack, wait for the opponent's post acknowledging this, then write something like "I attack, aiming a kick towards your groin". Then it is your opponent's post and they will write whether they take the kick, or escape it somehow, as well as what effect the attack would have on them, and any counter-attack they might launch. Your next post could be either disappearing into the night, if it would still follow, or some other logical course of action depending on what your opponent writes in response to your attack. In general, for all play, if you play with common sense and courtesy, and are willing to discuss any issues that arise with other players calmly, maturely and respectfully, ooc if necessary, are willing to be flexible, and ready to make allowances for human error that happens from time to time, you should find gaming here an enjoyable experience. The City rpg has no formal council to settle disputes or make rules, etc. Since the City first appeared in May, 2002 until the present, all decisions regarding play, the design of the game, etc. have been made by the City's players as a group through discussion and consensus. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for things they would like to see discussed, the usual method is to raise the issue through a post on the IC/OOC cork where other players can respond and through discussion, a consensus can be reached. If necessary, players may choose to take the issue to a town meeting or forum in a separate venue if the matter at hand needs more room for discussion than the cork can offer. As well, if no clear consensus can be determined by discussion alone, there are avenues available to put the matter to a vote, if necessary. As for disputes, since our players are all adults, we trust that they will be able to sort out their disputes between themselves. NOW,on to information you may need to start playing. INTRODUCING A CHARACTER, CLAIMING A CELEBRITY You do not need to be a member of SOI to play in the City, however, to do things like have avi's appear, color your character name, be able to whisper to and receive private messages from other players, it helps immensely. Information on how to join SOI is available by clicking the "How to Join" link that appears in soi rooms. To introduce a character, people often leave a post on the #r-9thcork(City IC/OOC cork) just to let others know their character's name, the celebrity chosen, whatever other information they'd like to have out there. You may also choose to leave a post on the #r-cityhp(Character Homepages) cork as well. Neither of these is mandatory, and NEITHER will secure your claim to any celebrity image you may wish to choose to represent your character. To secure a claim, please first check the Listing by Celebrity page link at the top right hand side of the IC/OOC cork to make sure the celebrity's image is not already in use. Celebrities are listed there in alphabetical order by their first name. If a celebrity is already in use, you must choose another unless you get the present player's permission to share it. That person must also message Scarlett Somers to let her know that they've agreed to either release or share the celebrity image. You may also wish to check out the in the Hood since we do allow crossplay from that realm. If you think you will be playing in more than one realm, you may want to choose a celebrity who is not listed in any of the rpg's you are interested in playing, then register your choice of avi at all those sites so it won't be duplicated. In any case, if you are the first person to claim a celeb in the City, your claim takes precedence in City play over any claims others may make in the Hood. However, you should be aware that if you take your character to play in the Hood, your City celebrity claim may not be recognized there if another player has claimed that image for themselves in that realm before your arrival, just as the City players may not recognize your avi claims from the Hood if your celeb avi has been already registered in the City by another player and that player chooses not to share it. To claim any celebrity, whether it's shared or not, you MUST contact Scarlett Somers via her mailroom or in one of the top-level posts she leaves in the IC/OOC cork from time to time for the purpose of updating the Listing by Celebrity and Listing by Character pages she maintains for us. When you contact her, you will need to give her your character's name, the name of the celebrity you want to use, and a url for a picture of the celebrity that's at least 150x154 pixels in dimension. You may also send her the url for your character's homepage if you have one made up. AS well, if you eventually decide to delete a character permanently, please be thoughtful and send a note to Scarlett to release the celebrity avi so if someone else wishes to use it for their character, they can do so. ADDING A ROOM TO THE GAME As a soi member and City rpg member, you may want to add a room or rooms to play either for your own characters or for general use. You may want your room to represent a stand-alone building, or your may want it to represent an apartment or business within another building. Here's how you do both To add a room as a stand-alone building, you will need to choose the building's location from the vacant spaces available on #r-map(The City Map).Please read the descriptions of the City districts provided in the City Districtslink located in the IC links on the IC/OOC cork before requesting a space. While it is not forbidden to open a pawn shop or brothel in the upscale Uptown district, or to open an exclusive restaurant in the Redlight district, for example, if you choose to do so, you will probably hear objections about it ic and ooc from other players. So, unless you have a specific story-based reason for wanting to locate contrary to the general flavor of an area, you may prefer to make sure you choose a spot where your building would 'fit in'. Once you've chosen a space and have chosen a room id for it on your soi account, leave a message on the #r-map(City Map cork), requesting the space by its number as it appears on the map (ie-Y37), and providing the room's id (ie - #r-myhouse) as well as what label you'd like to appear on the map (ie-Joe Brown's home). After you have done this, you should also contact the room owners of whichever street(s) the building is located on to have it linked to them. You can find the name of the room owners by consulting the City RPG Room List. If you would like your room to be located within an existing building, you will need to contact the building's owner for permission, as well as to learn of any requirements they may have before your room can be linked. Again, you can find the name of a room's owner on The City RPG Room List. Please note, however, that if your room is within another building, it will not appear on the City map, but instead in the links within the building it is part of. Again, as for characters you may eventually delete, if you are deleting a room, please contact the room/street owners it is linked to so they can remove it from their links, and if it appears on the City or Hills Maps, please leave a note on the appropriate Map Cork releasing the space so it can be used by others if they wish. You may also wish to contact Caitlyn Slade so she can remove the room from the room list and dropdown list when she's updating them. Those are the basics. If you have questions or would like further detail on various areas, check out the IC and OOC links located at the top of the #r-9thcork(IC/OOC cork) or simply ask. You can either post your questions on the cork, or send a mailroom msg to other players in the game. Welcome to the City, and have fun!