5. Roleplaying Systems

Discussion in 'Core Game Rules' started by Nindomonogatari, May 9, 2016.

  1. Nindomonogatari

    Nindomonogatari Administrator

    Points:
    105

    Roleplaying Systems


    The next step, after understanding how to create your character is to understand how to use that character to interact with the game. As this is a creative writing roleplaying forum, the primary way to interact with the game and with other players is through roleplaying!

    Roleplaying Basics


    The roleplaying basics section contains the core information about roleplaying on Nindomo, as well as many of our in-character systems and story-based progression.

    Moderated Roleplaying


    This section details information about moderated roleplaying, essentially Nindomo's version of using the classic pen and paper game's DM.

    Events


    Events are the core 'game' part of Nindomo; we equate them to pen and paper game 'sessions' or 'encounters'. Events come in many shapes, sizes, and forms, so it's very good to read up on this information.

    Death and Rebirth


    Nindomo is a game that tries to mitigate player death, but it does happen. This section goes into detail about the various ways to die, the penalties for dying, and the processes for handling getting a new character upon death.

    NPC Rules


    This game limits each player to one PC at any given time. Instead of having multiple PCs, we have a rule-set in place for creating player-owned NPCs that can be used to suplement but not replace their PC. This section also details how other NPCs are used by villages, developers, and other uses.
     
  2. Nindomonogatari

    Nindomonogatari Administrator

    Points:
    105

    Roleplaying Basics


    Playing this game is done by roleplaying, as one would expect. We do this by making roleplaying threads to interact with other players or with the game systems. This simulates our game world; different threads represent scenarios and scenes between characters. Our stories develop through these threads and the various interactions between players, characters, enemies, and the like.

    Roleplaying Threads


    On NM, all our roleplaying and interacting with each other is done through forum topics, which we call threads. These threads come in different types depending on their content and their purpose, and as such we have a way to sort threads based on what they do using a forum prefix system.
    In addition to the prefixes that denote what kind of thread the RP is, we have a set of tags that you can use in a post to indicate special things about that post.

    RP Slots


    Every character has a number of RP 'slots' that they have access to. Each thread you're in takes up a 'slot', and depending on the content of that thread depends on it's type, with different restrictions on what type of threads you can be in and so forth.

    All characters are allowed 4 RP slots; that is a single character may be in up to 4 RPs at once. There are a number of rules to follow with these RP slots, however.

    Different kinds of threads 'clash', that is you're not allowed to be in one type of thread if that character is also in a different kind of thread.
    • You may only be in 1 [Mission], [Class], or [Exam] thread a time. They clash with each other, so only one from those three at a time.
    • You may only be in 1 [Quest] thread a time.
    • You may only be in 1 [Medical] thread a time.
    • You may only be in 1 [Village Plot] thread a time.
    • You may only be in 1 [World Plot] thread a time.
    • [Going Missing] threads take up all of your RP slots; you need to exit all current threads before running, and you cannot enter any new ones while that thread is open.
    There's only one exception to the 4 slot rule. If an PC leader character (council member, village Kage) is required to be present for something in their own village (an application, a test, something) and their slots are full, they can still see to their business.

    Leaving Threads


    By default, your character is in a thread for as long as you're roleplaying in it. We usually call these 'open' or 'running' threads, some kind of terminology like that. This goes for free RPs, event RPs, or battles; you are in those threads until you declare your character has left the thread in some way. The -only- ways to leave topics are:
    • You are allowed to leave by the other people in the topic. If there’s nobody to stop you, you’re free to go. This includes if the other people in the topic are incapacitated, or otherwise unable to reasonably stop you.
    • You escape via stealth and the 'leaving combat' rules.
    • All other participants in the thread are tagged by the Rule of Inactivity.
    The "Rule of Inactivity"
    If the person(s) you are RPing with takes longer than five days to post, you may automatically leave the topic.

    This rule does not apply under the following situations:
    • Your character is currently incapacitated.
    • You are in PvP combat.
    We will review these situations with you as they happen and come to the best course of action.

    You must put a [Topic Left] or [Topic Left Unless Stopped] tag in your post if you wish to actually leave a thread. You’re not technically out of the thread unless you have one of those in your post.

    Normally whenever you make your post with the topic left tag, you're officially done and out of the situation; your RP slot is freed and that thread is considered closed for you. The exception to this rule is any thread that you have to post your travel time in; those threads do not end until after the travel time has expired. You don't need to make a new post when that time ends, but you can if you want; it can be a simple OOC post if you wish.

    RP Threads and Death


    Many times when a character dies, they are in multiple threads in addition to the one they died in. Here's how we handle that situation:

    If you were in a solo thread with no other PCs, that thread is simply stopped; you get nothing, good day sir.

    If you were in a thread with other PCs, all roleplayers in your incomplete threads are to vote whether they can deal with your non-existence from the beginning of these threads. It does not matter if you joined these threads before or after you entered the battle that got you killed.

    If the majority of other players vote yes to non-existence, the other participants in the thread pretend that you were never there, you stop posting, and you get to move on to your next life as normal. If majority votes no, then you continue to RP in the thread as though nothing happened, and you postpone your death and rebirth things until after that thread is over. You cannot join any new threads, but you can still train and do OOC things with your character until the thread ends. Yes, we'll be watching these threads to make sure that there's no exploitation going on. In addition, this thread cannot become a PvP encounter. We're all creative types here; you and everyone else in the thread should find some way around combat. Don't be afraid to ask for help, because we're not bending on this rule.

    The only exception to the voting is if you're already in a battle. In that case, you automatically lose that fight and are deemed removed from existence as the outcome. This will be very rare, as you can't be in more than one PvP encounter at one time, but it might still come up.

    In Character Ranks


    Systematically (OOC) there are 6 ranks, E-S, with no real flavor. The flavor comes from your in-character ranks, which you progress through in your village. In addition, there are branches you can path to in order to specialize yourself.

    Traditional Shinobi Ranks


    The normal IC ninja ranks progress as follows, and are standard through the villages:
    • Academy Student (E-Rank equivalent)
    • Genin (D-Rank)
    • Chuunin (C-Rank)
    • Tokubetsu Jounin (Tokujou)(B-Rank)
    • Jounin (A-Rank)
    • Sennin (S-Rank)
    The IC - OOC rank equivalencies are mostly generalizations to provide context; it's possible to be an S-Rank Jounin, or a C-Rank Tokujou.

    The above ranks are the traditional ninja progression; you have no particular job other than 'shinobi'. There exist two special branches in villages though; ninja with special jobs and functions within the village that do particular work.

    ANBU Branch


    Short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, ANBU forces exist in all the villages and serve as the black ops force. ANBU are tasked with hunting down missing nin, police work, interrogations, and general dark dealings. It is a path that makes up for it's difficulty with potent and unique skills. Within the ANBU squad there is also ranks, similar to traditional path shinobi:
    • ANBU-in-Training (AiT) (Genin equivalent)
    • ANBU (Chuunin)
    • ANBU Officer (Tokujou)
    • ANBU Elite (Jounin)
    • Master Assassin (Sennin)
    Each village has their own requirements for becoming an ANBU, but for the most part you need to do it when you graduate from the academy, though it's usually possible to join the organization later through an exam or testing process.

    Not every village will use all of these names, and they may even have their own custom names. Again, this is just generalization to give you context into the branch.

    Medical Branch


    Medical ninja, med-nin, or iryounin are practitioners of the medical arts. These ninja still fight, but their skills are more oriented towards healing and medical knowledge. Like the above, the medical path is as long as the rest, but rewarding in different ways:
    • Med-nin-in-Training (MiT) (Genin equivalent)
    • Med-nin (Chuunin)
    • Advanced Med-nin (Tokujou)
    • Med-nin Gentry (Jounin)
    • Elite Practitioner (Sennin)
    Each village has their own requirements for becoming a med-nin, but for the most part you need to do it when you graduate from the academy, though it's usually possible to join the organization later through an exam or testing process.

    Not every village will use all of these names, and they may even have their own custom names. Again, this is just generalization to give you context into the branch.

    Kage


    Kages are the leaders of the villages, and practically the leaders of the entire country. Hokage for Leaf, Raikage for Cloud, Kazekage for Sand, and Tsuchikage for Stone. These leaders are extremely powerful members of the village, not always the -most- powerful, but ranking in the top. The Kage rank grants many in-character leadership powers and an increased pay, but systematically doesn't provide any special bonuses.

    Kage are often referred to by their number as an honorific, even after they step down from the position. (yondaime for fourth Kage, godaime for fifth, etc).

    Missing Nin


    Ninja either belong to one of the three shinobi villages or they're an outcast, roaming the world with no ties to a village. Missing Nin (Nukenin) are ninja who have abandoned their village and are now on the run. Whether they wanted to get away for personal reasons, because of problems with the authority, or because they broke a heated law and didn't want to own up to it, they're now at the mercy of the fates, drifting from place to place.

    Missing nin do not have in-character ranks, and are instead categorized IC by their OOC rank.

    In Character Advancement


    As described previously, IC and OOC ranks are separate from each other. This is done so that slower-moving villages, or villages that have higher standards for their ranks don't bog down systematic growth, everyone is mostly on an equal footing as far as progression goes. However, although your OOC rank determines mostly everything as far as the battle system is concerned, your IC rank will determine your roleplaying opportunities within your village.

    Although each village is different, the methods of ranking up are usually similar, needing some amount of jutsu you know/have mastered, a certain PL, and a certain number of missions you've done. In addition, it's rarely automatic, you usually have to take some kind of test or do some kind of exam. Your village should have the information in IC ranking up somewhere in their information board. Usually missions are done by need, but some villages may choose to host one every month or something along those lines.

    World Locations


    The Nindomo world is broken into countries. Every IC forum is within one of these six countries.
    • Fire Country - A PC country and home of Konohagakure. Lots of forests and plains, with a few smaller mountain ranges.
    • Lightning Country - A PC country and home of Kumogakure. Is almost wholly mountainous, with lots of snowy peaks and perilous valleys.
    • Wind Country - A PC country and home of Sunagakura. A vast desert with small dots of oasis around the landscape.
    • Earth Country - A PC country and home of Iwagakure. Also a mountainous region, but more desolate hills than snowcaps.
    • Water Country - An NPC country once home to Kirigakure. What parts are not covered in the corrupted ice are swampy and mysterious.
    • Whirlpool Country- An NPC country steeped in mysticism thanks to its labyrinthine forests and eddies. Chakra flows plentifully and in mysterious ways and seems to be free of the corruption...
    Each IC forum is broken into one of three categories that represent the forum's location in relation to the village that is within that country.

    Inner-Village (IV) zones represent the different areas that make up the village. These often have your standard city-like form and function. Shopping districts, ports, dojos, living quarters--all examples of the kinds of places IV zones represent. Only the four PC countries have IV zones, and they are maintained by their respective village counsels.

    Outer-Village (OV) zones represent locations in the country at large; areas that are not within the village's bounds, but surround it. These are very different depending on the needs and desires of the country. The four PC countries OV zones are under the jurisdiction of their respective village counsels, while the two NPC ones are maintained by the creative team.

    Village Gate zones represent the main point in which people come in and out of the village. "Gate" is a relative term, not a literal one; not every village has giant gates that open. Village gates are the only place where you can enter or exit a village, even if there are no actual walls or barriers surrounding the village. Village gates count as OV zones for purposes of things that care about what kind of zone it is.

    NPC Danger


    Except for big, plot-advancing events, IV zones are immune to NPC attacks; they are the actual shinobi villages so they are protected from the corrupted monsters' threat. OV zones are more susceptible; events can spring up there at random times with chakra beasts or other various corrupted-chakra related problems.

    Village Gates


    Every PC village has one forum that's labeled as the village gate.
    • Links to the village gate forums would be here.
    These forums are at the top forum you see inside each inner village zone forum.

    The village gate serves as the point of entry and exit into a village and into the country; you need to post here in order to be able to post in the inner village zones. You also need to post here in order to be able to post in other countries OV zones.

    Player Location


    On Nindomo, players have two 'states' as far as where they are located. Players are either "in a country" or "not in a country".

    If you are in a country, then you can post in any zone (IV or OV) within that country. You cannot post in any OV zone of any other country.

    If you are not in a country, then you are roaming between all of the countries. You can post in any country's OV zone, but you cannot post in any IV zones.

    The above are colloquially known as the "Rule of Continuity".

    This rule only applies to new threads created; you are free to continue to RP in ongoing threads and still travel.

    If you want access to a village's IV zones (even your home village, if you've left it), you'll need to travel to that country and gain access.

    Design Insight - READ
    It seems a little strange to have a player's location broken down in this kind of way; why are you only technically in a country when you've posted in the village instead of when you post in an OV zone of that country?

    There was a time in development when the rules were more granular; you were either in a village or in a country, but never both. This meant that players had to follow more rules and more steps to travel, and we found that this was an overhead that just wasn't worth the price. We don't want to burden our players with systems unless those systems provide a very clear benefit to their experience. We found that by giving players a little more freedom in how they can move around, we make more interesting RP opportunities for them. We eased back on the rules and determined it best to compartmentalize their location in a more general way. What we lose in precise location mechanics we gain in flexibility of creativity, which will almost always win out for a roleplaying site like this!

    Travelling


    As stated, when you are in a country you can only post in the IV and OV zones within that country, and if you are not in a country you can only post in OV zones, not in any IV zones. The way you move between countries is covered by the travelling rules.

    Travel Time


    Travelling rules (including going missing) utilize your character's travel time. Very rarely on Nindomo is anything in-character actually based in real-world time; this is a design choice because of the nature of our forum and our playerbase. Wherever possible we try to use posts and/or counts, or general description to determine things that characters would normally be based on real time. Inevitably though there will always be cases where time is just the systematic way to convey the in-character intent we're going for. Such is the case with travel time; the point of having a real-world time attached to travelling is to simulate your character having a known, traceable location that can be used by other PCs for various reasons.

    Travel time is based on your OOC rank:
    • E-Rank - 5 Hours (300 minutes)
    • D-Rank - 4 Hours (240 Minutes)
    • C-Rank - 3 Hours (180 Minutes)
    • B-Rank - 2 Hours (120 Minutes)
    • A-Rank - 1 Hour (60 Minutes)
    • S-Rank - 30 Minutes
    Whenever you post your travel time, be sure to post the whole thing; your OOC rank and the time above. It also helps, although isn't necessary, to post the forum board time that the time elapses. This is just a good reminder, but you're not required to do it.

    Group travel times are based on the lowest ranked member of that group. The opening post should have the group's travel time, and list out every member involved with that group. All members of the group need to make their opening posts before the group travel time expires or else the thread will be voided.

    Travel time is used in the following situations:
    • Leaving your home village to go to a different travel to a different country (opening post of a [Leaving Village] thread)
    • Forced exit attempts (opening post of a [Forced Exit] thread)
    • Forced entry attempts (opening post of a [Forced Entry] thread)
    • Missing attempts (opening post of a [Going Missing] thread)
    • Any post made in which you enter the thread and leave the thread in the same post.
    Don't try to double-post your way out of that last bullet point. The intent of this rule is to give any player a chance to react to your character's presence in any thread, not to make you post more. This counts for groups too, unless you're intending to have the group have a multi-post RP instead of just each person making a single post; as part of travel for example.

    Remember that in any instance that you have to post your travel time, you only leave the thread after the time has elapsed. This means that the RP slot isn't freed up until that time has passed.

    The "Rule of Honesty"
    Any post in which travel time is posted will be voided if it is edited.

    This rule is to prevent misuse, and to keep the integrity of a time-based system. Make sure that your post is in order before you submit it!

    Leaving a Village


    Typically the first step of travelling is to leave the village you are currently in. There are different ways to leave a village depending on the situation.

    Leaving Your Own Village


    If you want to leave your own village just for temporary travel you first need permission, denoted by having a passport granted to you. Post in your village's 'administrative forum' with a Passport type thread; the inner village zone that acts as the IC source of administrative dealings. Here you'll make a short RP involving your character receiving permission from some manner of village leader to take a temporary leave. Typically this is just a single short post you make, and then someone on the council will make a reply granting you the passport and you can be on your way. Of course this can turn into a deeper roleplay, but usually it doesn't. This kind of thread is subject to the Rule of Inactivity; you'll be automatically granted a passport if nobody posts in your thread in five days.

    Secondly you'll post in your village's gate forum with a Leaving Village thread (remember to post your travel time). It's not required that you're stopped here, but you might be. Typically if you're stopped by someone here you can just show them your passport and be on your way; it'll be a short thread. Once your travel time has passed (or you leave the thread), then you are officially out of the country!

    Leaving A Foreign Village


    If you want to leave a foreign village you have two options.

    If you want to leave on good terms, post in the village's gate forum with a Request Exit thread. In this thread it's expected that your character meets with someone of that village (PC or NPC) to see you off and out of the village. This should just be a simple RP back and forth, but you never know what can happen! Once you leave this thread then you are officially out of the country! This kind of thread is subject to the Rule of Inactivity--if you leave via this rule then it counts as an 'on good terms' exit, not a forced exit.

    If you don't want to be required to deal with a confrontation when leaving a village, you can post in that village's gate with a Force Exit thread (remember to post your travel time). Although there's no systematic 'punishment' for forcing exit, doing so will probably look bad to the village that you're forcing exit from. If you're stopped here you're going to have to talk (or fight) your way out of the thread. Once your travel time has passed (or you successfully leave the thread), then you are officially out of the country!

    Entering Your Own Village


    Returning to your own village is a simple process; just post a Returning thread into your own village's gate. You're not required to post your travel time unless you're only making a single post to both enter and exit the thread. You probably won't be stopped in this kind of thread. Once your travel time has passed (if posted) or you've left the thread, then you are officially in the country!

    Entering a Foreign Village


    If you want to enter a foreign village you have two options.

    If you want to attempt to enter 'properly', that is on good terms and with the chance to be rejected, post in that village's gate with a Request Entry thread. In this thread it's expected that your character meets with someone of that village (PC or NPC) to speak with you and grant you permission to enter the village. This should be just a simple RP back and forth, but you never know what can happen! Once you leave this thread then you are officially in the country! This kind of thread is subject to the Rule of Inactivity--if you leave via this rule then it counts as an 'on good terms' entrance, not a forced entrance.

    If you don't want to be required to deal with a confrontation when entering a village, you can post in that village's gate with a Force Entry thread (remember to post your travel time). Although there's no systematic 'punishment' for forcing entrance, doing so will probably look bad to the village that you're forcing your way into, and posting in that village's IV zones will probably put a target on your back! If you're stopped here you're going to have to talk (or fight) your way out of the thread. Once your travel time has passed (or you successfully leave the thread), then you are officially in the country!

    Going Missing


    As in Naruto, there are times where a player deems that their character would work better without the ties to a village. Sometimes stories develop better without the restrictions of a social structure bearing down on them. Or maybe they want access to something that their village frowns upon; or worse yet maybe they want to sell their village out to another, or even the Bijuu themselves. Whatever the reason, it is possible for a character to abandon their village, a term dubbed as going missing. They become a missing nin ("nukenin", as the Japanese name). What it entails to be a missing nin is described in a later post, but this is the process to become one.

    Travelling vs Going Missing


    We are going to make definitions here, since these two things are typically mixed up.

    Travelling - Is when you have permission from your village's leader(s) to leave. You’re expected to return, your allegiance is still with your village, and you won’t be hunted by your village for leaving. Travelling is the default way to move around, and if you're not -intending- to go missing, you'll be covered by the travelling rules and thus -can't- go missing just by chance.

    Going Missing - Is when you do NOT have permission from your country’s council to leave, and you wish to sever ties completely with your village. This is usually a bad thing to do, because it puts your name on the bounty list for your country, and you probably will be hunted by your village. Note that even if you don't wish to sever ties with your village, if you successfully leave without permission, you are a labeled a missing nin; you have disobeyed an order. Different villages may have different repercussions based on your story or reasons if you come back or whatnot, but those are case by case. In general, if you've left your village without permission, you're a fugitive by default. More details about going missing are at the end of this post.

    Going Missing Process


    Step 1: Make sure that you're in no other RP threads, as going missing takes up all of your slots.

    Step 1.5: Make sure you do not have permission to leave the village. It sounds silly, but it can come up. You cannot make a going missing attempt if you have permission to leave the village. In a case like this you have to do something else in order to cut ties and become a Missing Nin. Some examples are detailed later.

    Step 2: Make your Going Missing post in your village gate forum. You can only go missing from your own village gate. This post must contain your travel time as per normal, but a bit modified. As a perk of the rank, ANBU get an additional 45 minutes to catch those attempting to abandon their village. As such, you need to post two times, your normal one, and then that one with 45 minutes added to it.

    Step 3 - Stopped: When someone catches you during your running time it freezes, and you have to deal with whomever catches you. You have a couple choices now, you can either try to talk the person(s) into letting you go, or you can fight them. Irrelevant, you have to get them to either leave your thread, or incapacitate them in order to continue running. Your time will resume where it left off once all people in the thread but you have either left, or become incapacitated to the point where they wouldn't logically be able to stop you. If you manage to free yourself from them, your travel time begins to tick down from where it left off it does not restart. See more about this in the stopping information below.

    Step 3 - Not Stopped / Time Expired: After the total time has passed (your normal travel time +45min for ANBU), either because you were never stopped, or you managed to get away from your catchers and then your re-started time elapsed, you have succeeded in becoming a missing nin. You can now PM the requisite party in order to transfer yourself to nukenin status.

    As per normal travelling rules, once you successfully leave the thread you are also out of the country, so you can post in any OV zone but not in any IV zones.

    Stopping Timed Threads


    Any thread where travel time is posted can be stopped by another player. This is done simply by posting an RP reply to that post. For most threads that use time all this means is that now the two (or more) PC/NPCs are now interacting, and it's just another roleplay thread. For every timed thread other than Forced Entry, Forced Exit, and Going Missing threads, if a player stops the original poster, the travel time is rendered meaningless and is no longer used in that thread. Once the thread finishes the original poster may freely leave the thread.

    Stopping Force Threads


    If any of your forced attempts (Forced Entry, Forced Exit, and Going Missing) are stopped by a PC however, there are a specific set of rules that happen, and you actually have two different options on how you're going to proceed.

    When you are stopped, the first reply afterwards should contain how much time remains in your travel time. This can be calculated by taking the difference in time between your post and the catcher's post, then subtracting that from your total travel time to get your new value. This will be used as how much time remains when your travel time automatically restarts.

    Firstly, you can attempt to talk them down; try to let them get you to pass. RP attempting to persuade them to let you leave and do whatever thing you are attempting to do (go missing, force entry, force exit). Simply lying or showing some kind of permission for whatever your doing will invalidate your attempt. If you simply have your character tell a blatant lie about your intent that the other person believes in order to let you go you won't be considered missing/forced entered/forced exit. In addition, you'll most likely receive some kind of warning for the attempt. Also as stated before, if you have permission to leave you can't go missing or force exit.

    If you manage to persuade them to let you go, they have to leave your thread before your travel time will resume. It starts automatically from the time of the last leaving post, the one that leaves you alone in the thread.

    Secondly, you can just instantly call a battle mod and start PvP combat. This doesn't necessarily mean fight them to the death, but a PvP situation will have to happen to render them in an incapacitated state. As long as you can incapacitate them to the point of them not being reasonably able to follow you, you can continue your attempt.

    Your travel time will start automatically from the time when the battle mod posts the round that incapacitates the last player, thus leaving you the only conscious/capable one in the thread.

    Stopping Process


    Again, this only applies to the three force attempts; other timed threads do not follow these rules.
    Step 1: Make sure you actually -can- stop the person. The rules for that are:
    • You cannot currently be in a [Mission], [Class], or [Exam] thread.
    • You cannot currently be in a PvP battle.
    • You can't be more than 1 OOC rank lower than the person/group you're attempting to stop.
    Step 2: Make your RP. It has to be a full RP, with real roleplaying, just posting "Stopped" doesn't cut it. Yes it can be a little short because you're tried for time, but you have to actually RP being on the scene, noticing and stopping that person(s). Also post your OOC rank to prove that you can catch them. Now continue to roleplay and find out what the thread holds in store. This thread is subject to the Rule of Honesty above; don't edit or it'll be invalidated.

    After one person has posted in a stop/catch thread, Nobody not involved in the thread is allowed to post, unless backup is called for somehow. Being that backup can only be called in a battle, that means a fight needs to break out. If any parties involved have any questions about if something you want to do can be done/how it should be done, let an admin know and they can work something out.
     
  3. Nindomonogatari

    Nindomonogatari Administrator

    Points:
    105

    Moderated Roleplaying


    So far what we have discussed has been what we call 'unmodded roleplaying'. Unmodded RP is about half of the writing and interaction on Nindomo; players and their characters simply writing and interacting with each other in very free-form ways without any kind of overhead from another person. Sometimes there are some basic rules/systems that that are added, the travel time rules are a good example, but in these situations there is no "mod".

    However the system mechanics of our game, especially combat, require moderation--much like a DM controlling the NPCs of a classic pen and paper game, some situations require a third party mod to control the numbers.

    Types


    One of the first distinctions that need to be made when talking about moderated roleplaying is the difference in the two types of moderated situations; PvE (Player vs Environment) and PvP (Player vs Player).

    Player vs Environment


    PvE is what the system is tailored towards, and hopefully what you will be encountering most of the time. PvE is any situation where PCs are not directly fighting each other. Your PC is in an event with an NPC monster, or you're currently fighting against a village NPC; these are PvE situations. Even though there is technically a 'player' behind the NPC's actions, you are not being aggressive with their PC.

    Player vs Player


    PvP is defined as two or more PCs being enemies in a situation. A majority of the time this is combat, but it's possible that events can turn into PvP situations, or threads become PvP situations before the first round of combat actually breaks out. The system is designed to foster PvP in very similar ways to PvE; the system functions exactly the same, but modding tends to be more strict, and your roleplaying has less of an effect in PvP situations.

    Moderators


    There are many times when a system calls for an outside party. Combat, certain events, times when an impartial judge is needed to run numbers; these are all examples of situations where a moderator is required. Mods on Nindomo refer to an outside party whose job it is to maintain the state of the current situation because the players involved are utilizing a system that affects their own characters.

    Encounters


    Any time a moderator oversees a thread, that thread is counted as a moderated thread. We refer to this in the system as an 'encounter'. An encounter lasts from the moment the mod starts; the first round of combat, pre-combat system usage like stealth, or from the beginning of an event thread as examples. An encounter lasts until the situation is resolved; whether through the ending of combat, the ending of the event, etc.

    There are two core situations that require a mod to oversee them, and then a third, more ambiguous 'catchall' situation.

    Combat


    Almost all combat requires a moderator to oversee it, irrelevant if it's PvP or PvE combat. Someone who's character is not in the combat situation is designated as the 'battle mod'. It's this person's job to assemble the numbers from the participants, gather their actions, then process each round and present the results.

    For more information about how to roleplay during moderated combat, see the Combat Flow section of the combat rules.

    Events


    Events are the other primary source of moderated roleplay; many of the event types are 'modded', that is they require a third party mod to run them. Unlike battle mods, event mods don't always involve the combat system, although they can. Events are unique in that they use different parts of your character mechanics to do things that are unrelated to combat, although they can include combat if the mod wishes.

    For more information about events, both modded and unmodded, see the Events section.

    Misc Situations


    In addition to events and combat, there are some situations that are technically neither of those things, but still require moderation.

    Any time a player wishes to use a mechanical system against another character (PC or NPC), that interaction needs to be modded. A few of the situations such as those are:
    • A player wants to use the stealth system to keep themselves hidden from other characters, but without the intent to start combat.
     
  4. Nindomonogatari

    Nindomonogatari Administrator

    Points:
    105

    Events


    On NM, events are structured (or semi-structured) roleplay threads that you participate in that have a goal and a reward. Unlike the free RPs that you simply start and have fun interacting with people and telling a story as it evolves, events are a way for you to build your character in statistical ways in addition to creative character development. Events have a number of structures and qualities based on how they're run, their intent, their flavor, and a number of other things. The idea of this event system is to be able to provide you with clear goals and a clear process for obtaining rewards for your writing and for using aspects of your character in creative ways that can keep a direction and prevent reward-based roleplays from meandering and never ending without sacrificing too much creative content.

    Events are also the primary way in which you will interact with the NPC antagonists. Chakra-beasts, corrupted wildlife, and corrupted chakra will be the main source of problem from events, and just like in any other game, it's your job as a player to help solve problems when they arise.

    Event Basics


    Every event has a number of qualities that detail things like how it's run, what type of thread it counts as, what its requirements are, etc.

    Note that not all of these will directly be listed out similar to this, and some may not even have some of these qualities if they don't apply!

    Type: An event's type determines its basic structure. There are 3 types: Static, Dynamic, and Open.
    • We'll explain the event types better below!
    Category: An event's category determines what kind of event it is. Mission, class, exam, quest, contract, village plot, world plot. These are all event categories.
    • The event categories (and their rules/rewards) are: Mission | Class | Medical | Exam | Quest | Village Plot | World Plot | Generic Event
    Moderation: An event's moderation determines if it's an event to be run by a moderator, or if it's something exclusively up to the players to self-moderate while participating in the thread.
    • All events are either modded or self-modded. Self modded events have less rewards, but go faster. Self modded events always have a word count minimum based on its rank as a post structure requirement (they can have more)
    Rank: An event's rank determines the general difficulty of the event; which also will determine its rewards.
    • Event ranks correspond to the OOC ranks. Unless the event says otherwise, you need to be at least the same rank get rewards from the event (or even participate in some cases).
    Player Amount: An event's player amount determines if an event is solo or not. Solo events are only 1 participant (mod not included). Some events have a maximum or minimum number of players that can participate. Non-solo missions are called team missions, but non-solo events are not always team based.
    • If an event says 'solo', only one person participates. Non-solo events sometimes have a max or min, but not always.
    Post Structure: An event's post structure determines its rules relating to posting during the event. This is often a post limit/post minimum/word count minimum imposed to give the event a sense of finality and/or challenge. Not all events will have a post structure. Note - 'Post structure' rarely means post order.
    • Examples: "Each player makes 4 posts." | "Each player needs at least 1500 words." | "Each player needs at least 3 posts."
    Post Requirements: An event's post requirements are things that players need to do in their posts while working towards the goal. There are tons of post requirements that can be applied to an event!
    • Examples:
      • Each player gets 3 actions per post to deal lightning damage!
      • Each player has to cast 1 ninjutsu, 1 taijutsu, and 1 genjusu per post.
      • If a player's highest stat is Taijutsu, they have to deal physical damage, if their highest stat is Ninjutsu, they have to deal non-elemental ninjutsu damage.
    Goal(s): All events have a goal. Sometimes this goal is really cut and dry based on the type, but sometimes it's a bit more open and ambiguous, depending on what the event calls for. It can also have multiple goals depending on the purpose of the event.
    • Sometimes goals are just steps in order to move to the next phase of the event, and the event changes based on if the goal is met or not.
    Reward: All events have a reward. An event's reward is determined by it's rank and by it's category. Events can also offer bonuses based on things like cool roleplaying, interesting ways to achieve the goal, or other ways that are event specific.

    The "Rule of Rewards"
    All rewards gained from events must be posted in your dojo thread. Include a link to the place you got the rewards and what reward you got.

    The "Rule of Events"
    All participants in an event need to make their requisite posts within three days of the last post made. An event's description or creator may say otherwise, but this is the default/blanket rule. This usually comes in three ways:
    • If you're just making one post between mod posts, you have three days from the mod's post to make your post.
    • If you're making multiple posts between mod posts, you have three days from either the mod's post or your last post, to make your next one.
    • If you don't need to wait for mod posts, you have three days from the last post made in the event to make your post.
    If a participant doesn't make their post within three days, they're considered to Skip Go their turn; so their character is assumed to be doing something like skipping rope or picking their nose or something inactive. They don't get any participation because they didn't post.

    Mods are technically bound by this rule too, but rather than modding inactivity, you're allowed to pester and poke them after three days. If they still haven't posted in five days, you can go to your village and request a new mod (either temporary or permanent).

    Of course, this rule can be bent if a participant/mod has a circumstance that makes them unable to post. If a circumstance comes up and you need more time, please work with the mod and the participants in the event.

    Types


    As said, an event's type determines its basic core structure. Other qualities determine other aspects, but the type is the thing that sets the skeleton for how the event is run, how it's structured. An event's type will always be known; as it's part of the event's title.

    Static Events


    Static events are simple events that have a single goal. You can think of them like quests in any general MMO. They're often short, but they don't have to be. The purpose of a static event is to have something quick and simple with a clearly defined goal that you write towards, and then get rewards.

    Static events have a singular goal. This goal could be like "Defeat this guy", "Collect 10 fox pelts", whatever. Static events are popular for simple things like quests and classes, as they're easy things that you can do and be creative with while striving towards the static event's goal.
    • Static events are considered successes if their goal is met, and failures if it is not. It's as clean cut as that.
    Example:

    Dynamic Events


    Dynamic events are tiered events that change based on how the goals are completed. Each time a goal is met (whether it's success or fail, or maybe a specific thing happens), the event moves to the next phase. Each phase can have its own post structure, post requirements, and new goal.

    Here's a general idea of the structure of a dynamic event:

    Event Phase 1 Goal e.g. (Kill some beast)
    • If the beast is killed, move to Phase 2a
    • If the guy is NOT killed, move to Phase 2b
    Event Phase 2a Goal e.g. (The beast is dead yay! Find its hoard)
    • If the players find the hoard through some post requirement, they get X rewards and can leave the thread.
    • If the players don't find the hoard, they get Y rewards and can leave the thread.
    Event Phase 2b Goal e.g. (The beast didn't die, it escaped!)
    • The beast has escaped, nothing special happens. Players get a chance to give their reactions and exit the event.
    Dynamic events are, as stated, dynamic. These events always have at least two phases, but they could have more if you have a many-tiered, long event. They always start in phase 1 and have a goal. Phase 2 (and beyond, if appropriate) is separated into different parts (denoted by letters). Usually this will be an A part for success (if the players succeeded in the goal for phase 1), and a B part for failure (if they didn't). However sometimes dynamic events may not be a simple pass/fail, they may be a "If you do one thing, go to Phase 2a; if you do another thing, go to Phase 2b; if you do a third thing, go to Phase 2b".

    Dynamic events often end with just a simple reaction, a chance for you to react to the result of the event, possibly collecting additional bonuses or achieving a word count or post minimum if it applies.

    Example:

    Open Events


    Open events are less structured than the other two; and are kind of a blanket term for events that are designed not to have a clear structure. They have a basic story concept and some basic system usage, but they don't use the same type type of structure that constitutes 'success' and 'failure', they continue on until the parties involved (usually the mod running the event) are satisfied.

    Open events are designed to be free-flowing and fluid like other RPs. Often things that purely test your writing creativity or let you experience a story, like village or world plots are open events. In addition, self-modded events are almost always open, as without a mod there to oversee things, it's hard to have a structure.

    Examples:
    Aside: Event Examples -- As you can see by these examples, things like the moderation type, the event type, the event category, and the post structure and requirements are all part of the event's name and description rules. Events are easier to understand when you read the rules for the specific event (as well as its types and other properties) as part of the event's entire description; it flows more naturally and is much easier to wrap your head around. If an event's rules aren't clear from it's description, bring it up!

    Categories


    As stated, an event's category determines the meat of the event; what it's for, what it counts as, and is the main factor in the reward. The category for the event is always in the title after the type. Here are the currently supported event types, and their rules.

    Mission


    Missions are the main way you get yen. They're also the most flexible event type; as they can and often are all of the event types, self modded or actually modded, solo or team, different difficulties based on their rank, etc.

    There are two ways to partake on a mission; your village will have a list of missions that you can go on and participate in, or you can write up and present a mission to your village, and they'll give you the clear to go on that mission.

    Listed Missions


    Listed missions will have all of their qualities presented in their description, similar to the above examples. If it's a team mission, you can apply with other people if you know who you want to participate with, or you can just request a particular mission alone, then either you or a mod can try to find more participants. Once you've requested the mission, if it's self-modded you can start yourself, otherwise a mission mod will start the mission for you and boom, you're on your mission event!

    Created Missions


    If you have your own idea for a mission you want to go on, you'll need to write it up and present it to your village mission mods. You're not restricted on what kind of mission you can apply to go on. If you have a team static mission that you want to go on, write up all the specifics for it and present it; or you could write up some specifics for it and let a mission mod fill in the rest. That said, most of the missions you create will probably be self-modded, as those are the easiest to run. That, and since you're presenting a new mission (one that doesn't have a predefined story and goal structure), you'll probably make these open type missions.

    Aside: Self-modded mission types -- There's no rule against trying to run a self-modded static or dynamic event. However when you think about it, there's not much of a point, is there? You don't have a mod to oversee your actions to give you the normal post requirements; you don't have a third-party way to track yourself towards a goal. As such, it's probably best to make your self-modded missions be open and just let the stories organically build and flow. It may make them a little longer, but it makes them more unique.

    Mission Leader


    The mission's leader is the player that initially applied for the mission, or the player that created and applied for the mission. There is no mission leader for solo missions.

    Completing Missions


    Once a mission is complete (pass or fail, modded or self-mod), you'll post back in your mission approval area with a link to the mission. If it's a modded mission, the mod will have said if the mission is a success or fail in that thread; otherwise your mission mods will look over your self-modded thread to make sure that protocol was followed, and then deem it a success or a fail. You'll then be given your rewards!

    Note that it's hard to fail a self-modded mission unless you don't meet the word count requirement.

    Other Rules


    • You can only participate in one self-modded mission per week.
    • You can choose to forfeit any and all rewards to make the mission count as a Free RP rather than take up your mission slot.
    • All self-modded missions have a total word count requirement. All players must meet this word count in order for the mission to succeed. If the word count isn't met, players who've met at least half the word count requirement will still get the failure rewards.

    Rewards


    Missions give you yen primarily, but also stats! The amount of each you get is based primarily on the kind of mission, and then the rank:

    Class


    Classes can be thought of as a special kind of mission for Academy Students. Classes are designed to teach the little kiddies the basics of being a ninja, but also have the double bonus of being able to introduce our event structure to newer players. As such, classes have some qualifications on them as for what qualities they have.

    Teaching Classes


    Any PC or NPC that's at least Chuunin rank can teach a class. Teachers will receive a reward for teaching the class, but only if that class is taught by a PC.

    Class Rewards


    For the student:
    • Each student receives 500 Yen and +15 stat points
    For the teacher:
    • 1 Student: 500 Yen
    • 2 Students: 1,000 Yen
    • 3 or 4 Students: 2,000 Yen
    • 5+ Students: 3,000 Yen

    Medical


    Medical events are a special type of event that can happen after players have finished a mission. These are threads in which the characters that participated in the mission RP themselves in their village's hospital or medical area, receiving medical attention for any bangs they may have accumulated during their mission. The other intent of this kind of mission is to give the medical branch of shinobi an easier chance to interact with the rest of their ninja peers.

    Medical events require the participation of a PC that knows the Medical Knowledge ability.

    Starting a medical event


    • Medical events are always self-modded and open.
    • Medical events have to be started within two days of the completion of any modded mission or self-modded team mission.
    • You can't start a medical event after completing a solo self-modded mission.
    • There can only be one medical event made per mission.
    • Medical events count as missions for all intents and purposes for all participants.

    Med-nin


    • Med-nin may only post in one medical event at a time.
    • Med-nin may only receive rewards from one medical event per week.
    • Med-nin may forfeit their rewards for the thread in order to have the event count as a Free RP instead of a mission.
    • Medical events after the first each week count as a Free RP for the Med-nin (because they don't get rewards anyway).

    Rewards


    • After the event is complete, a council member must review the thread (so post back in your event approval area).
    • All participants in the event receive rewards equal to the mission leader bonus from the mission type they went on.
    • Mission leaders will receive 2x the mission leader bonus.

    Exam


    Exams are a special kind of event, kind of a hybrid between a class and a mission. Not all villages will run exams for you, as not all of them deem it needed.

    For all intents and purposes, Exams follow the same rules as Missions except that they don't count as a Mission thread. Also, they're always modded, they can never be self-modded.

    Quest


    Quests are a special type of event that are meant to provide you with unique writing opportunities, while also exploring some of the more world-lore oriented parts of Nindomonogatari. The idea behind quests is that unlike missions, these are things that even non-shinobi could undertake, because they're steeped more in the lore of the world than the village needs (like missions are). The intent of quests is to give you all different ways to challenge your writing and characters in ways that give a more unique feel than standard combat, giving you a nice balance between game experience and writing.

    Quests will be the primary way, at the beginning, to explore the antagonists. Almost every quest will relate somehow to the corrupted chakra and/or wildlife in some way.

    Quest Rules


    • Quests are always self-modded and static.
    • Quests are undertaken from one of two lists; a global quest list that the plot team maintains, and a village-specific quest list that your village maintains, and has more unique village/country lore-based quests for you to go on.
    • Quests are applied for in the same way self-modded missions are.
    • You can only undertake 2 quests per week.
    • Quests clash with missions; so you cannot be on a mission and go on a quest at the same time. If your quest spans multiple posts, you can't take on a mission until that quest is done.
    • You can't be on two quests at one time (for quests that span multiple posts).
    • Once you complete what the quest told you to do, post back in your initial approval thread with a link to your post. Your village council will look it over and determine whether or not you fail.

    Quest Structure


    Being static events, every quest has a clear, singular goal that you need to complete while doing the quest. In addition, quests will almost always have some kind of post content requirement that you need to follow in order to attempt to achieve that goal. Because these are self-modded, if you don't follow the requirements during the quest, you'll end up failing and get nothing!

    Quests will often have a lot of other rules about them, like where you can undertake them from, minimum word or post requirements, etc. Every rule that a quest has will be labeled in the quest itself, it'll be very clear to you what you need to do while going on a quest!

    Questing 101


    The best way to think about a quest is like a standard MMORPG quest. You're given a goal and a series of rules that you need to follow, and you write out the situation while keeping to the rules. The quest's requirements and structure serve the job of the dungeon master, giving you prompts that your character responds to, and little challenges that you need to face in some creative way. Quests are designed to be little writing vignettes that test your creative writing alongside your other character systems; so while the goal may be clear, the post requirements should always offer you some kind of unique way of completing that goal.

    Don't be afraid to go a little crazy with the goal and/or the post requirements. If you can, in your writing, explain why your character's actions make sense and complete the goal while only loosely sticking to the requirements but being super interesting and fun to read, you'll be just as likely to pass as someone who followed the requirements exactly to the letter.

    Quest Rewards


    Quests, unlike missions, do not have an overarching structure of rewards. Every quest will tell you exactly what rewards it gives, and it differs from quest to quest. In addition, quests will often give you very unique things that you can only obtain by questing.

    Quest Tokens


    Quest tokens are a special currency that one can only receive from questing. There are many different kinds of quest tokens, but all of them have a (QT) in their name to denote what they are. Right now they don't do anything, but rest assured that they will in the future; so don't hesitate to collect them!

    Village Plot


    Village plot events are special events that your village hosts, advancing some kind of plot within your village. These can range from single events that tell a short village story to a long dynamic event that will drastically change the shape of the village.

    Village plots don't have any special rules beyond the normal event rules. All village plot events will have whatever rules they have, rank, reward, goal, etc written out in the opening post of the thread.

    World Plot


    World plot events are very similar to village plot events, but rather than on the level of your village, they're run and hosted by the plot team, and serve a purpose for the board and its storyline as a whole. Sometimes these will focus on a particular village, or sometimes they'll be global.

    Like village plots, most of their rules are written in the opening post of the event itself. Almost all of these will present themselves in some way of advancing the plot of the chakra beasts; almost always accompanied by a new system/roleplaying opportunity for you in the aftermath!

    Generic Event


    Generic events are the catch-all of any other kind of event. Generic events are run by mission mods for no other reason than to run an event and have fun with something. These are always modded, but other than that have any other event qualities.

    We encourage mods to just pick up and run events as they want!

    Event Instances


    Some events live in what we call 'instances'. If you play MMOs you're familiar with the term; instances are special zones that aren't quite part of the full, open world. On NM, event instances can be thought of as events that allow for global participation. When an event instance is running, irrelevant of its actual location, any player can participate without the normal travelling rules, and they don't take up an RP slot.

    Instances are often used for world plot events to allow all players to participate in some way.
     
  5. Nindomonogatari

    Nindomonogatari Administrator

    Points:
    105

    Death and Rebirth


    Where there is combat, there is death. Where there is death, there is rebirth. On NM, there are many ways to die, each one bringing about it's own penalties. In addition, there are many ways to continue writing after your character has passed on.

    Death Types


    Death can happen in the following ways:
    • PvE Death: When you're killed in a modded battle by an NPC. This is usually only done in missions, quests, epics or events.
    • PvP Death: For when you're killed by an player's character.
    • Mercy - Death You lost a battle, but your opponent(s) granted you mercy and left you unconscious. You chose to have your character die.
    • Suicide: When your character kills themselves, or for when your character is killed in an unmodded fight. (By anything)
    • Mercy - Life Similar to above, where a PC has granted you mercy and put your fate in your own hands. If you choose life, you take some temporary penalties, but your character doesn't officially die and go away.
    Although not technically 'dying', there are other ways to lay your character to rest:
    • Retirement: For when you're tired of your character, and have been RPing them for a while.
    • Early Retirement: The above, but you haven't had the character that long.
    • Reboot: An all-out reset of pretty much everything. Not suggested, but available.

    Death Penalties


    Depending on how your character died, you suffer different penalties to your total PL.

    PvE Death


    Ouch, you were defeated by an NPC. Either you screwed something up in your quest or mission, or whatever you undertook was a bit over your head. Well whatever, you get some penalties, but not much. NPC death results in a 5% PL Loss.

    PvP Death


    Another player killed you. This means they went through the process of rendering you dead, and didn't just leave you unconscious, they straight up killed you. Dying by a PC's hands results in a 10% PL Loss.

    Suicide


    You killed yourself, or you were killed in an RP fight between you and another PC, or maybe an NPC, who knows. Irrelevant, you're dead now, and you take a 20% PL loss.

    Mercy - Death


    If you're in a modded battle and are reduced to below 0 HP, you fall unconscious. At that point, your opponent(s) can choose to either kill you or leave you there. If they choose the latter, they have granted you mercy, and now your life is up to you. If you choose, you can let your character die, either by bleeding out or something similar. If you do so, you suffer a 15% PL Loss.

    Mercy - Life


    Alternatively, if you chose to have your character live, you do not take permanent stat loss, you instead get a number of penalties that last for a while after the altercation.

    You take -5 to all secondary stats, HP modifier and CP modifier.
    • Every week after your lethal encounter the penalty lowers by 1, for a total of 5 weeks. This is your 'recovery time'.
    • For the entirety of your recovery time, you only receive 50 points when training. This includes the final week, even if the time would end before training that week.
    • During your recovery time, you may make an RP with a med-nin, in which they heal you in some way or assist in your recovery. You may do this with any PC with the Medical Expertise ability. Doing so cuts a week off of your recovery time, so that on the 4th week the penalty lowers by 2, thus completing your recovery. You may only do this once, and only between the 1st and 4th weeks after your encounter. Doing so functions like a medical event; the med-nin will gain rewards, but you do not.
    • During the first week after your encounter you may not participate in modded combat. Find other solutions if things would boil down to a battle.
    A character only has 3 'lives', that is, you can only choose Life 3 times. After that, if a player leaves you unconscious, even if they don't kill you, your character will die and it will count as a PC Death, see above, though they didn't actually kill you.

    If you wish, you may have your character be a ghost NPC when you die. This is up to you, but ghosts follow some very specific NPC rules, as detailed later.

    Retiring Characters


    If you've been RPing your character for more than 6 months, you may retire that character for no cost. Retiring is sort of treated like a death in that you go through the rebirth process, but you don't have to lose your character or any stats. There are a few different options you have when retiring.

    Convert to Personal NPC


    You convert your retired character into a personal NPC. Essentially, that character acts like a second character of yours for writing purposes only. The NPC section of this thread has more information.

    Storage


    If you didn't choose either of the above, your character's profile is just put in storage. Nothing else special happens.

    Early Retirement


    If you haven't been playing your character for 6 months, you can still retire it in one of the above fashions, but if you do your new character will take a hefty penalty, the same as suicide, a 20% PL loss.

    Irrelevant which one of the above you chose to go with, your character is moved into storage on the board, for easy access later if you need it.

    Rebooting Accounts


    A reboot is essentially a reset to your account. Your inventory is wiped, your money, your bank, everything, and you start from scratch. You retire your current PC in one of the fashions above, and then you basically begin the game from the start like you were a new applicant. It's not suggested that you utilize this option, but it's here for you if you wish.

    You an also reboot from a normal character death. Since your new character doesn't start out with any stats, you won't have any stat penalties.

    Rebirth


    The process of rebirth is fairly simple, it's mostly just a lot of information transferring. Here are some basic rules though.
    • Your PL is calculated based on the percent loss of how you died, rounded down. This PL dictates your CL, which dictates your system rank, which dictates your caps. You're free to shuffle your stats around as you see fit, but remember that no stat can go higher than it's cap, and no stat can go lower than 40% of it's cap.
    • Jutsu may be swapped for any other jutsu of equal or lesser rank in order to retain their level. You still need to purchase the items yourself by selling off the ones you don't keep, but this swapping process is so that you don't have to train all your new jutsu for your new character.
    • You may freely swap your BL/CA, so long as your description for it fits your character. If swapping to a CA, you'll also spend the requisite number of points now.
    • Kinjutsu are lost, but if you wish to get one on this character you'll need to make a new application. When you apply for your Kin with this character, the mods will take into account that you had one previously.

    Unretirement


    If you've previously retired a character, instead of rebirth into a new one you may choose to rebirth into your old character. If you do, you still suffer the stat penalties, and as such need to figure out where your stats are going. You're not allowed to swap anything other than your stats, and that's only because you need to figure out where your stats are going with your new PL. If you no longer have the same items that that previous character did, they will be swapped for you by an admin or moderator.
     
  6. Nindomonogatari

    Nindomonogatari Administrator

    Points:
    105

    NPC Rules


    Players are restricted to a single PC. Their PC is their sole character, and is where they spend the most time and effort while on Nindomo. There are instances though when a supporting character is needed; a family member, an NPC villain, etc. Players and moderators alike have various needs for these type of NPCs, and such we have a rule-set for them.

    NPCs (Non-Player Characters) come in four basic types:
    • Personal NPCs: Personal NPCs are PCs for all intents and purposes outside of combat; they are the multi-purpose character-based NPC and are not used for combat.
    • Moderator NPCs: Mod NPCs are special NPCs that villages control for official purposes; these can sometimes have their own account.
    • Event NPCs: Event NPCs are created specifically for events. They usually don't last outside of the one event/event chain that they were created for.
    • Faceless NPCs: Faceless NPCs are general use 'bodies'; they don't have a name or a face, and are simply used to be filler in a roleplay situation.

    Personal NPCs


    Personal NPCs encompass the majority of NPC needs. These are things like family members, people in your character's backstory, ghosts related to your character or your account's history, the like. Some personal NPCs have their own subtypes, and each subtype has their own minor rules that are added to the general personal NPC rules.
    • Ghost NPC: Ghosts are exactly as described; they are spirits under your control. These can be from your character's history, or previous characters you had who have died.
    • Pet NPC: Pets are semi-intelligent companions that follow your character around. 'Pets' in this term means any animal-type companion that does not have a human-level intelligence and cannot communicate at a human level.
    • Messenger NPC: Messengers are a special brand of NPC used specifically for sending a message from one location to another. They modify the travelling rules slightly.

    Approving Personal NPCs


    All personal NPCs must be approved by your village council. If the NPC requires information or permission from another council or a team; such as having a history involving a different village or country, then that must be noted in your application so that the appropriate team can be informed.

    Once an NPC has been approved, you are then to post a new thread in your village's NPC forum. This is where you post the information about your NPC; it's type, character information, link to the approval, etc. You only need one thread in this forum, you can add all your future approved NPCs to your post as new replies.

    Personal NPC Rules


    • Personal NPCs (pNPC) have 4 RP slots, just like PCs. In addition, they cannot be in more threads than your PC is currently.
    • When a pNPC enters a thread, it must be clearly indicated that they are an NPC.
    • Human pNPCs (not ghosts or animals) may have a Kinjutsu. It is applied for just like a PC's.
    • pNPCs follow the standard travel rules. Their rank for purposes of travel time is two ranks lower than your PC. The exception to this is if the NPC was a PC at one time, they are considered the rank they were when they became an NPC.
    • pNPCs cannot participate in modded situations under normal circumstances. If a situation calls for a moderator to be called on a personal NPC, that situation will be reviewed by the relevant village council(s)/admin to see if the provocation is warranted and the situation can be modded.
    • pNPCs must leave modded situations by way of the system just like a normal PC.
    • pNPCs have no stats. In modded situations they can move using the same movement range as your PC, but cannot take any other actions.
    • pNPCs cannot be hit by AoE attacks, but can be targeted by single-target actions, offensive or defensive. pNPCs have 1 HP.

    Additional Ghost Rules


    • Ghost NPCs must be 'attached' to another character, a PC or a non-ghost NPC.
    • Ghosts must state that they are ghosts in their NPC profile.
    • Ghosts may not tell anyone how they died, except people who already have obtained that information through another means.
    • Ghosts cannot enter threads that their attached character is not also in. This rule can be broken as long as every participant in the thread agrees that the ghost can enter by itself.
    • Ghost NPCs are always visible to your PC and any NPCs you have.
    • Only characters with the Ghost Walker CA, Tsuchimikado BL, or Dark Sage KIN can see ghosts that do not belong them, unless the ghost's player has allowed someone to see them.

    Additional Pet Rules


    • BL/CA/KIN pets follow their own rules as explained in the ability that grants them.
    • Animals that count as messenger NPCs do not also count as pets.
    • Pet NPCs must be 'attached' to another character, a PC or a non-pet NPC.
    • Pets cannot enter threads that their attached character is not also in. This rule can be broken as long as every participant in the thread agrees that the pet can enter by itself.

    Additional Messenger Rules


    • NPCs that are used solely to carry a message do not need to be applied for, and do not need to be listed in your NPC profiles thread.
    • Messenger NPCs can be humans or animals. If they are animals they do not count as pets.
    • Messenger NPCs follow the same travel rules that PCs do. Their rank is equivalent to your PC's rank for purposes of travel time.

    Moderator NPCs


    Moderator NPCs can be thought of as 'official' NPCs. These serve some type of function in a village or for the board as a whole; IC village council member, noteworthy village official, recurring NPC for a plot, etc. Mod NPCs are the most flexible of NPCs because they are not meant to be used by a single person, they are for the purpose of a whole team.

    Approving Moderator NPCs


    Mod NPCs are voted on by the group that is using them; they must be fleshed out as characters (history, personality, stats, abilities, etc) before they are put to vote in the team that will be using them. Just like personal NPCs, if the NPC requires information or permission from another team, then that team will be notified for their own approval.

    Once a mod NPC has been approved, it will be posed in the relevant place; either the village's NPC Proiles forum if it's a village NPC, or a global area if it's a setting/world NPC.

    Mod NPCs may have their own accounts, but those account passwords must be posted in a place where anyone on the relevant team can have access to it if needed, and those accounts cannot have any type of moderation permission.

    Moderator NPC Rules


    • Moderator NPCs (mNPC) may only participate in threads that the team that controls them agrees upon.
    • If an mNPC is created with stats, those stats must be approved by admin in addition to the village approval process.
    • An mNPC with stats will only have those stats when it's RP'd in an event, at all other times it is treated as not having any stats.
    • mNPCs may travel using the normal PC travel rules. If they have stats those stats are used to determine their travel time, otherwise they are treated as being B-Rank.
    • mNPCs only gain information by RPing in threads; they can never convey information they would not have learned through an RP thread they were in.

    Event NPCs


    Event NPCs are the general-use NPC type that event moderators will use. These are the bread and butter NPCs that you will be up against in the various types of event; either for combat or for other system opposition uses. These NPCs almost always have stats, but almost always are only used for a one-shot event by the mod.

    Approving Event NPCs


    Event NPCs do not need to be approved by anyone, unless they are intended to be used for more than a single event. If this is the case then you send them through the same approval process that you do personal NPCs. Approved event NPCs are also stored in your NPC Profiles thread.

    Event NPCs that are needed by village councils for village events are treated as moderator NPCs, as explained above. Event NPCs are for players to use when they moderate events, rather than village councils.

    Event NPC Rules


    • Event NPCs (eNPC) may only be used in events; they cannot RP in any thread that is not one of the event thread types. They may only participate in a single event at a time.
    • eNPCs may have any combination of BL/CA/KIN/jutsu/ect, and may have any layout for their stats. Always keep in mind the kind of mission you need the NPC for though, and use that to gauge how powerful they are and what kind of skills they should have.
    • eNPCs may travel if the event that they are participating in requires them to travel. They do not follow any traveling rules and may post instantly where they are needed. If the eNPC needs to travel to a foreign village and post in in-village zones, then you must obtain permission from that village's council before you are allowed to post with your NPC. You should get this permission before the event starts, for simplicity's sake.
    • eNPCs require the permission from a village's council in order to participate in any event that will have any lasting, noticeable changes to any zone.
    • eNPCs only gain information by RPing in threads; they can never convey information they would not have learned through an RP thread they were in. The exception to this is any information pertaining to the event that they are currently participating in.

    Faceless NPCs


    Faceless NPCs serve no purpose other than to take up space in a thread. Crowds, waiters, shopkeepers; NPCs whose roll is nothing but a reaction to the RP content in a thread. Faceless NPCs are considered 'non-entities'; they do not exist outside of the temporary function they are being used for.

    Faceless NPC Examples/Rules


    • Faceless NPCs (fNPC) exist at the village gates, in order to record who has gone missing.
    • They exist in crowds during RP that have crowds so that you can RP a crowd's reaction to something if need be.
    • fNPCs exist in one-off roles during RP threads--the waiter at a restaurant, the shopkeep who waves to passersby, etc.
    • fNPCs cannot pass information on to other characters that is not either considered common area knowledge, or that is not information that pertains only to the thread that they're currently in.
      • A good rule of thumb is that if you have a doubt on what is 'common area knowledge, or information that pertains only to the thread they are in', it is probably not information that the fNPC can convey, and therefore shouldn't.