Before requesting access, you are required to read the following:

• Rules of Conduct
• RPoL Terms of Use
• RPoL Mature Games Policy

Game rules may be subject to change.

Applications will not be accepted on a first come-first served basis. Please take some time and give some thought to your answers. Try to provide specific instead of generalised answers.

SECTION I. PLAYER QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Please provide your age and year of birth.
   
2. What is your current time zone?
   
3. What is your average posting rate?
   
4. What is your first language, if not English?
   
5. Why do you wish to join this game?
   
6. What are your expectations for this game?
   
7. What is your experience with gaming in general?
   
8. What are the sorts of things do you enjoy? (In terms of games, books, movies, et cetera. I'm interested in hearing about anything, really.)
   
9. What are taboo issues for you? (For example, some people are averse to games that depict drug usage in any way. Others feel uncomfortable with current political issues.)
   
10. Please provide a writing sample. (I'm mostly looking for correct spelling, adherence to the rules of grammar, good diction, interesting ideas, and so forth.)

SECTION II. CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

Think of this second questionnaire like a pitch. You are pitching your character for the game. Some characters may not fit with the game I'm trying to run. Or perhaps won't fit with the characters other players are running. My philosophy is that there needs to be a synergy between the players, GM, and the characters so that we're all rooting for the same thing.

Which in my opinion, should be "a successful game".

Write a paragraph of text for a character, like you'd see in a story outline, describing the most essential elements of your character. What kind of arc do you envision for the character? What do you envision their story to be about? Try to capture what makes them unique as a character.

Compose your pitch in complete, grammatical sentences. No lists of abilities; no sentence fragments. It's okay to submit only one pitch, but would be better if you do more. Ideally, I would like to see three to five character pitches, after which I will pick the best one for a more in-depth focus. Each character pitch should be around 200-300 words long.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Here are some answers to some questions you might have.

What is the Big Picture?

Following a succession crisis, the players must protect the true heir to the throne as they embark on a journey across the galaxy.

Who are the players supposed to be?

The players play knights who become embroiled in the brewing succession crisis. Characters must be human.

Naming conventions

For characters, rather than Earth inspired names, please use more space opera inspired ones, e.g., Asur, Tokoza, Garris.

On the other hand, you may use proper nouns for estates and orders, like the Order of the Radiant Sun or Earl of Green Haven, though more esoteric names are perfectly adequate as well. The Order of St. Dymra, for instance.

Starfighter

If you are to play a Knight, in addition to your own character, it's important to think about your character's relationship to their starfighter, an ancient piece of lost technology, with a mind and desires of their very own. As a concept, they carry with them the same gravitas and weight as a dragon and dragonrider do in other settings.

Is this Star Wars?

No. While it may seem I have taken liberally from Star Wars (I have, as well as from elsewhere), I see it as simply a source for inspiration. This game takes place in a setting with a separate cosmology and history, though it evokes many of the same themes from those stories.

What do you mean by a "home-brewed" system?

The system I'm using is more about using a quick resolution mechanic, to get the mechanics out of the way of the story and the fiction. I'm a bit of a fan of Keith Baker's Phoenix Dawn Command RPG, with its card-based resolution mechanic. Drawing cards and adding bonuses and subtracting penalties versus a specific target number is pretty easy to reason about.

There aren't any class levels or feats or stuff like that. If you are more interested in optimizing your build, killing everything in sight, and gaining treasure, this is probably not the game for you. Nor are we going to go into lengthy combats every time, with round by round blow-by-blows. That's not the point of this game.

I'm far more excited about exploring interesting characters in a space opera milieu. :)

So this is freeform?

No. It's far more involved than simply freeform or even guided freeform or even freeform with rolls thrown in. There is a logic and shape to the system, but most of the time, as the Game Master, I'm handling it in the background. You will have to interact with the system only very rarely, though I'm perfectly happy to explain it should you wish.

You'll definitely have a character sheet, though it'll be small and self-contained.

What about game balance?

I take a more nuanced approach to balance than is espoused in D&D. Remember that this game isn't about combat per se. As long as every character has something interesting to do, I don't see a really huge problem. Often in stories you have an ensemble cast of characters with widely differing skillsets. You can have Luke, Han, and Leia in the same company and the same story.

Style

I expect players to think about their characters' inner life and thoughts and feelings and be descriptive about such in their posts. Some players have only posted their outward physical actions, which is fine for some games, but not the ones I run. I'm interested in character arcs and narratives and emotional pay-offs and so forth.

Lay out your character's backstory gradually. The tendency of most players is to get it all out at the beginning, sometimes in the first post. I've had some players whose first posts were their entire backstory, with 1000 words or more.

Don't do that.

Not only is it contravention to the posting guidelines, but we're just getting to know the characters, the world, the story. The less you spill, the more that is retained. Leave us wanting more, instead of wanting to skim.

Collaboration

I expect players to be open to collaboration in the fiction. I'll rein you back if I feel you come up with something that contradicts the world, but players should generally be open to suggestions from other players and the GM. We're all in charge of the fiction together. You can write for another NPC, just as much as I can. Someone else can even chime in and move other characters around if their idea makes for a more interesting story.

I'm even okay with player characters moving other player characters, with each other's permission, of course. Comfort levels may vary, but if I was playing Doc Brown, and another was playing Marty, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me to move Marty in such a way:


If you do move another PC or NPC, be sure to be open to making edits if someone says you're doing something to make them go out of character.

Regarding Romance

I'll leave it up to the players whether they'll engage their characters in a romance. Personally, I prefer for romance to arise organically in the story, as opposed to something that is forced or the "point" or the main driver of a game.

Nice as romance is, my aims and interests do not revolve around romance, but instead are concerned with the overarching narrative and the character arcs I'm trying to build in complicated webs between the characters. Romance can play its part, and maybe even a vital part for some arcs, but keep in mind that it's only one part amidst many others.