I'd love to see a return of roleplayer interviews, if only for a chance to redo that awful first interview.
Perhaps we could somehow combine them with the RP Spotlight? Whenever a roleplay is featured, its creator's name would be added to the queue of interviewees.
Well,
gawrsh!
I wouldn't think that a natural like you needed any encouragement.
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Anyway...
In the spirit of free and easy roleplaying, I have more details about the latest Creative Corner RP project. It will be set in (nearly) the same universe as "KHI Fables" — but where "Fables" had a lengthy application process, this roleplay won't even require a template.
Allow me to explain further, through spoiler boxes copied-and-pasted from my PM correspondence with OmniChaos:
Salutations, friends!
As you well know, a diligent Story-Keeper never sits idle for long—for as the year turns, new stories are given life in words, while old tales resurface. Still we labor to recover the lost kingdom of Dragonsbane, but that does not exempt us from our other duties. A new set of stories has recently come to the Library's attention, and we feel that your talents are best suited to the task of deciphering them.
I do not use the term "decipher" unduly; these volumes are . . . cryptic, to say the least. The Library discovered them on a shelf that had long been obscured by the large sundial from Gwyladyr-Hav, where presumably they sat for ages, undisturbed. Despite this, the language constantly flits between ancient and modern forms, and everything in-between. In some places, it takes a strong regional dialect—while in other places it borrows liberally from languages we have not even seen before.
In short, these works are an anomaly, shifting whenever we feel that we've properly identified them.
The author of these texts identifies himself/herself as Spurius—making a rather obvious pun at our expense. The margins and body are filled with this author's notes and spoiled drafts, indicating that much of the work is pure fiction. Still, fiction has value unto itself—and the magical properties of Spurius' work are reason enough to investigate.
Use whatever magicks, rituals, and resources lie at your disposal. I am certain that whatever your discover will be interesting, at least!
— J. Ordeith, Keeper of Tomes
- To participate in this RP, you need only post your character's name in the OOC thread, along with a brief description of how they relate to the setting/story/other characters. (e.g. Adolfus, bastard son of the king. Known traitor, and enemy of the realm.) (These will be compiled in a small "record" post in the OOC thread, and increase in detail as the RP progresses.)
After that, they are free to properly introduce their character in the RP thread itself. Those yet to join can coordinate their entry with those already participating, to make it more seamless—but this is not required.
- Standard RP guidelines are in place—but whatever somebody posts, even if their writing is choppy or amateurish, is accepted without question. That's it. Even if they inadvertently break a rule. Any incongruities can be attributed to Spurius' fickle nature and sloppiness as a writer. So long as they write coherently, section newbies can write as they please, without fear of being rejected outright.
If someone feels that their character has been wrongly used by another roleplayer, they can submit a complaint to the OOC thread. If we rule in their favor, Spurius (as the narrator) will intervene and "begin a new draft" at that point. (This would manifest as a bunch of scratched-out lines, some critiques of the plot thus far, and a fresh starting point.) Functionally, new drafts will serve as "soft resets" to resolve any difficulties that arise during the RP.
They would also mark alternate endings to the story. Like Drakengard and Nier, these endings can be abrupt and unsatisfying—or not. Between these more complete drafts, characters' roles and relationships can change drastically, or not at all.
- Every now and then, the roleplayer controlling Spurius will change. As the new Spurius, this person has absolute power over the RP's direction, though they should use this power sparingly. They should not, however, worry about inconsistencies with past versions of Spurius; inconsistency is the only consistent quality of Spurius.
- At the end of each draft, each character's entry in the database will be updated with notable events from that version of the story, along with their position/status at its end. If possible, we will cite the posts in which these events took place.
This is for the benefit of the illustrators. While they are free to illustrate any character or scene at any time, the database will place all of the juiciest tidbits right at their fingertips—just as in KHI Fables.
When a draft is officially complete, the content of that draft is usable by anybody who wishes to write stand-alone pieces based on it.
I apologize for such an unseemly wall of text, but it really is easier to post all of the information at once.
With all of this in mind, I'd like you all to wrack your brains for plots/settings to which this process can be applied. I already have something in mind—but given how adaptable this format is, I'd love to see this RP become the section's collective property.