Official:Guide to Roleplay

Note: This page is moderated and can be referenced in ooc issues, such as ban appeals, complaints, reports, etc. This may not apply to the pages this page links to.

These are the general tips to engage in effective roleplay. Note that while these are not specifically rules, many of the tips listed here overlap with the actual rules of the server. It is highly recommended that these tips are followed in order to make a better roleplay experience for everyone on the server.

Tip 1: Play a realistic character.

1.1: Be believable.

Your character wants to keep living, is reasonably sane, and would not do unrealistic things to jeopardize his employment. If you do not wish to keep playing the game, go to cryo in dorms rather than going braindead in the hallways or committing suicide

Examples:

Good:

• As a lawyer, you represent someone accused of being a traitor in a trial, despite the Head of Security arguing he should be executed.
• The RD demotes you for researching nodes that they disapprove of. You work with the captain to get reinstated to your department.
• You get brain trauma and go to medbay for a checkup.
• A patient needs surgery, you make sure they are unconscious before operating.

Bad:

• You and a couple of other cargo techs attempt a coup on the Quartermaster because he won’t order guns.
• The RD demotes you for researching nodes that they disapprove of. You deconstruct the research computers for revenge.
• You get brain trauma and decide it’s time to start killing.

1.2 Avoid pain.

Do not treat your character’s life as if it were a forty-minute round with infinite respawn. Do not deliberately kill yourself to achieve a goal. Try to keep your character alive and healthy. Rage Cages can be treated as an exception to this.

Examples:

Good:

• Risking your life trying to fix a failing engine as an Engineer.
• Rescuing the crewman being attacked by a nuke op.
• Defending yourself from a Ling who is attacking you.
• A wizard has murdered all of security and the captain, you team up with your coworkers to stop his rampage.

Bad:

• Rushing at a wizard the moment he’s seen with a toolbox to valid him and end the round.
• Running into the SM because you rolled engineer and decided you don’t want to play the round.
• Self-injury or consenting to random brawls to the death. (Excluding Rage Cages)
• Running out of an airlock with no space suit and trying to tank through the damage.
• Accepting surgery without anesthetic.

1.3: Keep OOC Matters/Memes out of IC.

Do not use radio channels, station announcements, station names, nuke op war declarations, PROVE cartridge, or any system to post noRP nonsense, copypastas, OOC memes, or references.

Tip 2: Avoid Metaknowledge.

2.1: Your knowledge is limited.

You are limited to the knowledge of your job and your character, with some knowledge in related jobs. Your character is not a one-man army, nor has the entire wiki memorized and embedded in their brain. Unless in dire emergencies or immediate danger, your character should not do another role’s job, unless there is an overlap between the jobs.

Examples:

Good:

• A cargo technician fixes a dying engine when there’s barely any survivors left.
• An assistant helps run errands for a scientist in Xenobiology.
• You instruct a new chemist on mixing substances as a doctor.
• There are no botanists, so a chef gets access from the Head of Personnel and grows the food he later cooks.

Bad:

• A shaft miner researches all the tech they need because the scientist is too slow.
• A radiation storm causes a non-medical crewmember to mutate so they break into chemistry to make mutadone.
• An assistant performs surgery.
• A security officer brings an injured crewmember to medbay and starts administering meds while fighting over the body with medical staff.

2.2: You do not know the nature and abilities of all the antagonists.

Security knows enough to do their job, and you know enough to protect your life from immediate danger, but you should not be reciting entire wiki articles on the nature of antagonists.

Examples:

Good:

• You run away from someone whose arm is a grotesque blade.
• You report a crewmember who has a gun to security.
• An airlock gets emagged, so you message a security officer, “So-and-so is breaking airlocks.”
• Security brings a cryptographic sequencer to science for research.

Bad:

• An airlock gets emagged, so you shout, “So-and-so emagged teleporter and probably has to steal the hand tele!”
• A traitor is hiding in maintenance, so you start grabbing all cigarette butts.
• Security purchases syndicate gear from a traitor’s uplink for science to research.
• You suddenly start to freeze up, you were standing next to the botanist just a moment ago, so you shout, “BOTANIST LING CRYOSTUNG ME”.

Tip 3: Play a realistic Antagonist and respond to an Antagonist realistically.

3.1: Antagonists should engage in RP.

You should RP with antagonists when possible and when it realistically can occur, and antagonists should work towards creating an RP environment when possible. You should not try to get a cheap trick and kill anyone while they are typing. Admins are here to help you; we will modify your objectives if you have a scenario you want to try!

Examples:

Good:

• Holding someone hostage with a gun. The hostage plays out the encounter and works towards creating an interesting situation if they are in it. Security could negotiate a hostage situation rather than immediately rushing in to get the hostage killed. Negotiations end up deteriorating so security distracts the hostage-taker while another unit engages with swat gear.
• You have to kill the cook, you make up an excuse and convince him to let you into the kitchen, he starts microwaving some steak so you sleepy pen him and throw him in the gibber, Chef Burgers for everyone!

Bad:

• A crewmember gets taken hostage, security rushes in throwing flashbangs without trying to RP.
• Pulling out a double esword in medbay and killing all the witnesses.
• The botanist saw you sleepy pen the chef so you bomb his department.
• A gang shoots up anyone who comes near their territory in fear that they are an enemy gang member.

3.2:  The goal of the game is not to stop the antagonists at all costs, nor is it the goal for the antagonists to greentext at all costs.

Be kind to the bad guys. Because antagonists are often the primary driver for rounds, some amount of goodwill should be extended to them. This means you should try to interact and communicate with antagonists and try to create an exciting narrative, rather than, say, immediately laser them to death when you see them. Communication and dialogue are expected on both ends. Security is still allowed to prosecute anyone for crimes they commit.

Nuclear Emergency, Xenomorphs, Blobs, Clock Cult, and Blood Cult are excluded.

Examples:

Good:

• Security engages in dialogue with non-wanted unsubs before searching. The unsub runs so security moves to detain.
• An assistant starts up a dialogue with a wizard about his goals and what he wants and acts like he’s in fear of the wizard and listens to what he has to say.

Bad:

• A wizard appears on the station, so a scientist throws a maxcap at him.
• An officer beats an antagonist to death on the basis that he’s an antagonist.

General Guidelines

Look out for everyone. Please be considerate of other players, as their experiences are just as important as your own.

You're an antagonist, great! Try your best to play the role to drive the round forward, inserting conflict into the round is important. Your actions should make the game more fun, more exciting, and more enjoyable for everyone (Though some people will just lose, and that’s part of the game.). You can treat your objectives as suggestions on what you should attempt to achieve but you are also encouraged to ignore them if you have got a better idea. Admins are here to help you; we will modify your objectives if you have a scenario you want to try! You do not have to act in a nefarious or evil way, but you should try to add to the round in some capacity.

Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. Work to create a story with others. Whether you like it or not, roleplaying on the server is a communal and cooperative affair that works because the players within it agree to play a certain way. You cannot play selfishly, and you cannot ignore the rules. At the same time, you cannot expect the roleplay to always go in your favor. Be a good winner and loser.