Forums » Smalltalk » The Law of the Worlds

In an RP, there are rules. Unspoken rules, rules that are picked up on, either by subtle or otherwise. THese rules make the rp, like in one Magic is taboo, Dragons are nothing more than a dream, and Werewolves are actually noble.

In the course of an RP, these unspoken rules help shape and keep the flow of the story...


What do you do when someone breaks the rules, more or less blatantly?

I.E : In a steampunk world, someone brings in lightsabers and ninja skills cause it's cool to them...

Much of the responsibility lies on the founder/gm. Fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk all have vague definitions and so when launching an rp it's on the founder to establish any specific shalt nots. Personally, if I'm serious about a setting I make a character submission stage first to ensure everyone's ideas gel, or else you just have chaos. If things have been stated clearly and are still rebelled against, then you have to enforce respect for the setting. Sometimes people don't pay attention. Sometimes, they just don't care. The latter I usually just eject. Approach is on an individual basis.

a fair argument. However whent he story has already started, and you don't wish to restrict them to hard on their characters, what do you do?

Say I have a fantasy setting. The plot has a clause where vampires Burn in the light and are hunted with a vengance. BUT, vampire character waltzes in and doesnt mind. Now, for the sake of roleplay, I aloow them not to be smote on the spot, hinting rather heavily that they shouldn't be doing that..

Trouble persists.

that's a problem with your approach, no offense. If you leave it open on characters and don't expect customs that fit your setting parameters, you can't expect someone else's initial vampire standards to match yours; nor should you expect them to change the character you have already accepted from who and what they are, to what you want. I understand you are trying to be flexible, but if you have specific standards as such they need to be some of the first things read, and acknowledged, before posting. The attempt at flexibility is ultimately what is making you angry, and if you aren't willing to make submission and participation parameters, or staple upfront rules, you need to be prepared to bend as it then becomes what is called freeform.

I'm pretty sure your talking about my character......

Just changing the creature into a vamp. Niceeeeee

Nope, similar, but nope. Someone else on another site. Being far more... literal.

And for the sake of Clarity, I will put my imediat problem in words.

I am RPing with another person on another site (email) I've Rped several times before, and we got along pretty well. However this time, she is being a bit beligerant about her ideas.

I had a setting that involved multiple worlds crossing. The rule, as stated in a previous post, was that technology couldn't cross from one world or another. Things are going great until out of nowhere she pulls a laptop in the middle of a medival setting. I'm trying to prevent apocolypse here, but she is just NOT cooperating, saying that her character would never leave it behind... It sounds childish to me, and I really dont want to end this ugly like.

well... what stops technology from crossing? Is it the gm saying he doesnt want it to? Are the merging worlds having checkpoints people get patted down for it? Does technology evaporate at the borders? If you can solidify the reasoning behind it you can just say it doesn't work, it isn't there, here's the reason. I know it's her undermining you but you gotta learn to deal with that as a gm. If you think nobody tried to loophole me in szurane, you're nuts. If you haven't got a solid reason, i'd say let it slide, establish your foundation and logic, take it as a lesson and move on.

Its one of those "Add fire to gunpowered things go boom" Sort of thigns. I mean, I couldn't make it any more plane. You cross the border with tech, it gets explody on you. Heck, she pulled th laptop out of a horses saddle bag... It's not like she poof had it...

Sigh, multiverse and it's stupid laws...

then present it just like that. If it was established (not implied), politely say she should have told you about the laptop and it would have been dealt with then. If it explodes at a boundary then her taking it anywhere or not is a moot argument. Depending on her belligerence, however, you have to be prepared to hear her challenge why that happens. I mean, cosmic reasoning and all, and then questions like "why is it only technology? What about other races?" or "how can it target technology specifically?" and "what qualifies as technology? The wheel was technical to cavemen, and muskets were an advancement!" etc. Approach it but have your ducks in a row.

I really wish I could just chunk the rule, but the plot sort of hangs on it.

Well, you had best figure out how to substantiate it in the case that she does challenge it, if you can't discard it. No offense intended but it sounds like an amateur gm mistake. I dont say amateur as an insult, just not thoroughly experienced. I made mistakes like that in early szurane phases too--not defining things and enforcing them as actively as I should, and getting mad when things didn't meet my ideals. You'll have to adjust and fill in your gaps to ensure you can enforce it.

No offence taken. I'm a rookie, I"m not saying anything else. But this isn't the first time I'm Gm'd with her. This is the first time however that such a blatant disregard for the rules has happened.

then perhaps the importance hadn't been wholy substantiatedor demonstrated to her, if she's usually good about it. see what you can do with what I've said and what you can fix.

Will do. I'll report back later

And the RP had to be scrapped.

too bad; but if one problem was ignored then it would have perpetuated. You know how to avoid it in the future.

and how... I'm just trying to keep everything workable