Rysiek
Posts: 693
6/24/2016
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I thought, we all might have problems. We might have an idea, but would it be possible back then? Is my idea for this char really good? I figured, this wouldn't fit the other topics, since this is about RPing problems.
I have a question to begin: Would it be too far if I made Maria, a proud polish patriot have a few russian traits like the love for tea or (as I read) slight troubles with punctuality?
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The silesian Detective
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Rysiek
The incredible Warsovian. She certainly didn't steal your diamond necklace. That idea is RIDICULOUS...
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Maria~Konstantynopolska
The silesian vengeance seeker
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Agata~Grym
I apologize for any and all anachronisms. I am too lazy to check some facts if I am sure they are from the 1890s or sometimes think they are.
Oh, and by the way, I am not polish, I am GERMAN to clarify for heavens sake... tylko po polsku mowie. Um Himmelswillen...
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The Absurd Rogue
Posts: 1049
6/25/2016
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It's generally a common thing for role-players to treat a character's nationality as a character trait rather than a background thing, however I see it as a harmful thing both as a roleplaying device and as a perpetuation of stereotyping. If we make a character and refer to it as "the Canadian Banker" instead of as "The Reluctant Banker" or even just "The Banker", we're leaving it open for them to be defined by the circumstances of their birth, which is heinous.
I mean, Eli Lowe is Russian but he doesn't mention it every second sentence. He's also bisexual and very mentally unhealthy, suffering from a lot of things that don't exist yet and one thing that never has.
None of these things generally come up, yet they influence a lot of his personality behind the scenes without ever coming to the foreground.
Then there is Ezekiel, who is literally a corpse puppeted by a sentient fungal colony... Actually, he might be a bad example.
edited by The Absurd Rogue on 6/25/2016
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"There is never another story. There is only one, and I try to tell it with every page. I fail, and I try again. There are no new stories; I have this one."
-S.N
RemainProfane#2532
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
6/24/2016
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Jews are somewhat unique because they were kicked out of their homeland in the Middle East and sent to Europe, where they formed communities. So their religion and ethnicity were pretty much tied together.
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Shadowcthuhlu
Posts: 1557
6/27/2016
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How I deal with time is to remember that time is weird in Fallen London. It's how you can leave a canon character in the middle of a conversation and go grind some material for weeks on end.
Basically, time is not linear, and time should not be constraint when setting up roleplays.
As for nationality, I try to use it as one of the basic building blocks - it's something that can be central to te character, but it usually built upon by other experience and events that shape their personality. Research into nationalities is a good way to find some interesting ideas and opportunities to develop a character but should not be constraint.
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https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Dirae%20Erinyes. Closed to calling cards, but open for all other social action. I also love to roleplay.
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phryne
Posts: 1351
6/25/2016
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Gideon wrote:
The second, is there a way to play a scene with more than one player using the message system? The only way this might work is if you role-played the characters writing actual letters to each other ("Dear X, you'll never guess what Y told me in her latest missive..."), with everyone relying solely on the information conveyed through the letters. That's actually an interesting idea...
But anything more extended is impossible. In fact, this is exactly the situation that led me and three other players drag a scene that began in FL over here... where it's still chaotic enough, of course 
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Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition
Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Eglantine-Fox
Posts: 872
6/26/2016
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I feel like I have to point out that some of a character's origin details are actually really important to them. But not always in a 'this is their nationality therefore they fit X stereotype'way. For example, I have a secondary FL character, Siobhan O'Malley, who is Irish, and angry, but the anger comes from actual historical stuff. The Irish Potato Famine happened not long before the Fall is supposed to occur, and Queen Victoria et al worsened it, leading to many deaths. Therefore my character has a very specific grudge, from an experience she wouldn't have had as part of her history if she was, say, Bavarian.
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Eglantine Fox, the charming and androgynous Correspondent, teetering between hobbies of seduction and self-destruction.
Siobhan O'Malley, Irish patriot (or 'bl__dy Fenian' if you're impolite).
Isidore Day, an up-and-coming London gentleman. All allegations of wrongdoing are categorically denied.
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Parelle
Posts: 1084
8/4/2016
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You could write public messages with codes (aside from your obvious alphanumeric substitution and Caesar shift, the Playfair and Pigpen ciphers were both used in the 19th century ) and code words/phrases in plain sight.
Your obvious period source is Kim, though the focus of the historical Great Game was Central Asia which is obviously removed from Fallen London. The Code Book, by Simon Singh is a good historical overview of tons of fun stuff, as it where, though it covers the development of computation during the 19th century and Poe, if I remember.
As for an idea, I always wanted to do something where you have an agent and a spymaster who don't know each other try to identify each other.
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Parelle, Lady Joseph Marlen. The Singular Librarian. A Midnighter, a Player of the Marvelous.
pages from a dusty bookshop: a badly updated FL changelog | Useful Guidance and Explanations
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Kithar
Posts: 9
6/24/2016
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Not at all. Firstly, It is Your character, so if You think this will match her, then just play it this way. Also, all people are different., so Maria can love tea right? But for me it is more of the England than Poland trait. 
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Happy to RP and ready to accept all manners of social actions.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Kithar
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
6/24/2016
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I have slight problems with punctuality, and I don't have a drop of Russian in me (though I have plenty of Polish in me) :P
The tea thing maybe you could RP as her having been in London long enough to have acquired a liking for it.
Also, you don't need to run individual character traits by us. I only spoke out against the Jewish thing because being Polish seems to be a HUGE part of Maria's character and turning her into a member of a completely different ethnic group didn't fit.
edited by Kukapetal on 6/24/2016
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The Absurd Rogue
Posts: 1049
8/4/2016
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I feel like the nature of forum posts isn't as condusive to my earlier hopes as I first imagined. Maybe that's just my tastes, I dunno. I like to have stakes in the things I do, role-playing included most highly among them.
Perhaps that's somewhat evident considering I left my character's fate in the hands of the people and allowed another writer to almost have him half-assassinated.
And more to come, most likely. Death should matter in the Neath, permanent or not. I feel like we're a bit divorced from consequence, with all we speak about tragedy and loss.
Again, perhaps that's just me.
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"There is never another story. There is only one, and I try to tell it with every page. I fail, and I try again. There are no new stories; I have this one."
-S.N
RemainProfane#2532
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Beau Mercy
Posts: 76
6/25/2016
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Incidentally, if you really want to play up a Polish or Russian background with a beverage, kvass would be a much more exotic and characteristically Eastern European beverage.
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Monster Hunter Beau Mercy, Friend of the Church, A Blood-Cousin to Predators, Straw-haired Tomcat
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Amelia Syrus
Posts: 626
8/4/2016
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I do agree we're all pretty divorced from the concept of death. But that's mostly because as a game, Fallen London gives players more than 1 chance to try again. The in-game lore is just an explanation for what can be a Game Over screen in most games while integrating more lore and a chance to return to the living.
But in roleplaying, it's a bit hard to feel invested in death when essentially the lore is painted that death doesn't matter. Even with true death, no citizens of the Neath feel as if it has much weight. I feel like that alone transitioned into roleplaying too. That along with the fact that the game paints the player character as an almost special/extraordinary character and it seems normal that roleplayers wouldn't want to aim to kill off their characters. Not unless they felt invested or wanted to conclude their character's story in that way.
All of that said, I wouldn't mind rolling a character for the express purpose of a campaign with a Dwindling Party. It's been ages since I played in a campaign and it would be interesting to see how an rp would handle something like that.
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Amelia Syrus: A Drunken Thief For Hire.
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
8/4/2016
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Well, I think the actual game itself is first and foremost for mostly everyone, with rping being something fun to do on the side to flesh out your character or have fun with other players. Most people aren't going to want to put a bunch of work into their character in the game only to have them killed off for good in an rp due to random chance.
If rping were the main focus of the game, then yeah, I could understand wanting the stakes to be higher, but as it is I don't think its something a lot of us are clamoring for.
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Shadowcthuhlu
Posts: 1557
8/5/2016
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Perhaps an npc's life is at risk if you want some drama in the game right there. The trick is making an npc that people care about
A Great Game roleplay would inspire quite a bit of pvp, so you would need to have the way to resolve such situations presented from the get-go, such as rule system or other methods.
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https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Dirae%20Erinyes. Closed to calling cards, but open for all other social action. I also love to roleplay.
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Rysiek
Posts: 693
8/15/2016
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I wanted to ask... i can chose a destiny, but can't decide for a set for Maria... could someone help? Early, it would have been money, since she (interestingly) started as an evil (for around five minutes) greedy char... but now, I have no idea
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The silesian Detective
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Rysiek
The incredible Warsovian. She certainly didn't steal your diamond necklace. That idea is RIDICULOUS...
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Maria~Konstantynopolska
The silesian vengeance seeker
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Agata~Grym
I apologize for any and all anachronisms. I am too lazy to check some facts if I am sure they are from the 1890s or sometimes think they are.
Oh, and by the way, I am not polish, I am GERMAN to clarify for heavens sake... tylko po polsku mowie. Um Himmelswillen...
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phryne
Posts: 1351
8/15/2016
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Rysiek wrote:
I wanted to ask... i can chose a destiny, but can't decide for a set for Maria... could someone help? Early, it would have been money, since she (interestingly) started as an evil (for around five minutes) greedy char... but now, I have no idea Why don't you have a look over here?
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Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition
Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Beau Mercy
Posts: 76
6/25/2016
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Kukapetal wrote:
Jews are somewhat unique because they were kicked out of their homeland in the Middle East and sent to Europe, where they formed communities. So their religion and ethnicity were pretty much tied together.
It wasn't only the Jews for whom religion and ethnicity were inextricably linked. Even a free thinking, atheist Pole would have identified as Catholic, if only to know where he was going to be married and buried. If a Polish person converted to Protestantism he would have been thought of as becoming "Germanized" on some level, since Germans in Eastern Europe identified as Protestant.
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Monster Hunter Beau Mercy, Friend of the Church, A Blood-Cousin to Predators, Straw-haired Tomcat
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The Absurd Rogue
Posts: 1049
6/25/2016
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Of course, and the difficulty and challenge of roleplaying stems from asking a person who doesn't exist except in your brain hole: "what do?"
Stereotypes always make that question super easy to answer. But what I've seen mostly from advanced role-players is that they don't make characters, they make people who, unfortunately or not, don't exist.
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"There is never another story. There is only one, and I try to tell it with every page. I fail, and I try again. There are no new stories; I have this one."
-S.N
RemainProfane#2532
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Amelia Syrus
Posts: 626
6/25/2016
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I think we can all agree that the real issue is there's too much focus on a character's ethnic background and nothing focusing on any other characteristic traits. So here's a few links to fix that:
- Q&A development sheet or the WWYD or What Would You Do? of character development. You don't have to answer all of the questions but it gives a rough idea of where your character stands on certain situations.
- Abridged version of Q&A, for the lazy ones among us.
- Backstory. How does it effect their traits and why.
- Long list for everything you ever needed to know on making an OC. In case you feel like starting over from scratch or want to dive into more than just character traits.
But from my own personal experience, I tend to write with the WWYD method. With the background and experience in mind, I just think of whether or not a situation will have a negative/positive effect on my character. Ex: 'Amelia had this happen to her, therefore she'll be repulsed by it.' etc. Also never write thinking you'll exposit everything about your character in one breath. Realistically would you or even a stranger tell you about their whole life story? No. Things that effect your character will come out in increments and be revealed over time.
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Amelia Syrus: A Drunken Thief For Hire.
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Gideon
Posts: 21
6/25/2016
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If I may, I have two questions concerning RP in FL.
The first, how to deal with time? Sometimes I play different scenes with different players at the same time. Player 1 can only send a message a day, the other, with whom I started later, ends sooner because player 2 can play several messages a day. Yet the end result of the scene with player 1 would have cause a vastly different scene with player 2 then the one we played. I run in these back to the future conundrums quite a lot.
The second, is there a way to play a scene with more than one player using the message system?
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Theus
Posts: 311
8/4/2016
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"Wilmots end - the subtlety is shattered by a message in dripped wax. (Hopefully that's wax.) Need HELP with the AUSTRIANS. There's a book on the ground next to the message. Will anyone pick up the book? (Will anyone risk being seen picking up the book?)"
When someone steps up, follow that up with a "Tsk. Just missed 'em." A devil clucks out at the second person to step forward. Have the first person provide a discription of themselves to be passed to the second player, etc. Allow a few players to leave some subtle clues to feel each other out and GM some breadcrumbs for the main plot yourself.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Hefty~Harrison
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Rysiek
Posts: 693
6/26/2016
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Eglantine-Fox wrote:
Yes indeed, plenty might, but not that specific grudge. Sometimes culture and history can be the making of a character, I think? Like thinking on what superstitions they grew up with, what traditions, to determine how they might react to something. For example having a Russian character who gives odd numbers of flowers to people because even numbers are for funerals traditionally. (This one I got from a blog by a Russian person telling people about it to avoid a faux pas.)
That is only russian? I was thaught by my mother you buy them in uneven numbers unless it is a dozen. What makes me wonder. Were names with twenty names like the one of Picasso common back then? And does someone have a link to advice with weapons, not to overarm characters. A character with a Nagant revolver (like Maria) or Mossin rifle- could pass. Gattling- NO! But what about in between. I only found a guide for blades. But there are also guns and clubs... and fists...
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The silesian Detective
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Rysiek
The incredible Warsovian. She certainly didn't steal your diamond necklace. That idea is RIDICULOUS...
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Maria~Konstantynopolska
The silesian vengeance seeker
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Agata~Grym
I apologize for any and all anachronisms. I am too lazy to check some facts if I am sure they are from the 1890s or sometimes think they are.
Oh, and by the way, I am not polish, I am GERMAN to clarify for heavens sake... tylko po polsku mowie. Um Himmelswillen...
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Vavakx Nonexus
Posts: 892
8/4/2016
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[OOC: ARISE, O THREAD OF USE AND DUSTY TOMB, FOR IT IS I, V. N., THAT SUMMONS YOU.
Necromantic rites completed.]
How would one go about managing an RP based on the Great Game? I've wanted to attempt such an RP, one-on-one, of course, and it is quite interesting how others would attempt to turn the Game into Roleplay and deal with the mystery-based essence of it.
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Amets Estibariz, the Moulting Eidolon: Cradled by a sun all their own.
Blabbing, the Hobo Everyone Knows: The One Who Pulls The Strings. A Clarity In The Darkness.
Charlotte and the Caretaker: A family?
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The Absurd Rogue
Posts: 1049
8/4/2016
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I think it would be interesting to have an RP revolve around an actual set of rules, or a board, or some sort of actual game system possibly hosted off-site. It would make the RP decisions more tangible, especially if you're dealing with something like The Great Game
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"There is never another story. There is only one, and I try to tell it with every page. I fail, and I try again. There are no new stories; I have this one."
-S.N
RemainProfane#2532
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absimiliard
Posts: 759
8/4/2016
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My Particular Friend and I often do a lot of RP explicitly using the cards we draw -- or storylets that we play. You might be able to come up with a good Great Game RP by focussing on retelling opp. cards and storylets that match the Great Game. Stuff from Wilmot's end, or conflict cards, for example.
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"Because, Parabola!" -- the Curious Captain
Eating nightmares from friends -- and I'm easy to befriend.
Absimiliard: the Black Rose of Wolfstack Docks
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