Advice/Help Rp help

[RoyalPhoenix32]

As the title says, I do wish to create a school rp but its based off an old idea I have but wouldn't know how to go about it. I do have some help with pm with another person but the replies are few. But here's a little bit of the rp that I want to redo to make it sound better and more accepting to those with magical creatures.

Being a Wiccan is different. Its opens a whole new world for you, like spells and summoning beasts from the beyond. But it also means control. Wiccans controlled by their powers fall from grace. They are the outcasts of Wiccan society and they often want to get back at those who wronged them. Their powers are fueled by their negative emotions that they become monstrosities and too often the Wiccan council sends someone to cleanse the outcasts from becoming monstrosities.

 

[Tarmagon]

My only advice would be to take care when using a title like Wiccan when referring to an overall society. There are many, many different types/schools/beliefs that fall under the general title of Wiccan, but they are a widely diverse bunch. What may be perfectly fine for a Dianic might not seem okay to an Eclectic, etc. In such a diverse grouping, who would hold sway in the council to make decisions about right and wrong? Would they consider a Solitary an outcast? How would they deal with a full Circle?

 

[RoyalPhoenix32]

Hm....Thanks for telling me. I'm more focused on the rl wiccans with a bit of magic thrown in. I can see where your coming from. This was written a long time ago and I do wish to spruce it up to make it sound much better than it does now. But I can see the problem of this as well. Witches and wizards can be wiccans as well but I'm trying to include other creatures as well, which maybe difficult

 

[rae2nerdy]

Well welian is the queen of magic / school settings. I don't know much about wiccans but I have been doing urban fantasy for about seven years and have a decent amount of school roleplays under my belt. So I will speak more to the school aspect ( as i'm a little more familiar with that in relation to superhuman abilities than pure magical society set up )


1. Make sure to set clear guidelines on the kind of magical abilities will be acceptable into your roleplay. Let people know how powerful their characters can be and what are the basic "types" of magic they may have.

2. When it comes to the school have a plan for getting through the year. Whether that's an over-all plot or just mini events to complete along the way is up to you.

An example of an over all plot - There is a new kind of magic that has been discovered or maybe the children have to train during the year and at the end they have a big test to determine what they've learned.

An example of "events" - you can have the students put on a school fair, a school dance, maybe go to some kind of training class where they practice their magic, maybe a little mystery for the students to handle, a prank war between grades, etc.

The idea is just to give players a small stepping stone to complete as they move through the overall plot ( depending on if there is one and what it entails ).

Each event should have a set beginning and a set end. So the first event could be a simple meet and greet where the students arrive for orientation. It should last for maybe a week IRL ( or maybe two depending on how fast you're wanting people to post or the schedules of your players ). Once that week IRL is over then you move onto the next event and so on and so forth.

3. Time skips are your friend. Especially for school roleplays where things can grind to a halt due to people dropping off or lack of momentum. If a event seems to be dragging or people have dropped out than feel free to time skip to the next event as needed.

That's about all I can think of right now but I'll post again if I think of more.

 

[RoyalPhoenix32]

Thank you rae2nerdy . I already have a set of guidelines for which elements are accepted. But for the beginning....That what I would need help with

 

[rae2nerdy]

Thank you rae2nerdy . I already have a set of guidelines for which elements are accepted. But for the beginning....That what I would need help with

Well that's a good starting point. When it comes to magic you need to be very clear. I find offering examples of powers that fall under each magic type is good as well as a basic overview.

An Example Description.

Contract Magic - This is any magic in which the user must make a contract with an outside entity to preform their spells/rituals.Usually contract magic involves some kind of blood magic to establish the contract although offerings of food or magical energy are also used. Anyone can use contract magic regardless of magical aptitude or power level and Contract magic can be combined with most other types.
Contract Magic In Action : Familiars. They are typically spirits that are contracted as companions or guardians by magic users.​

Now obviously that description doesn't have to fit into your world view but I just wanted to give you an example of how you can describe a power type that people might not be familiar with in a clear and concise manner.

Now when it comes to the school itself aspect ask yourself

1. is this a boarding school?
2. what is the schools goal? ( is it to teach students to control their powers, foster cooperation between magical types, hide children with gifts from hostile forces, etc. )
3. how are students selected to go to the school?
4. will faculty be playable?
5. are their any internal conflicts in the school ( ex. do certain magical types have prejudice or rivalry with one another? )

 

[RoyalPhoenix32]

rae2nerdy There are two schools. One is heavy into tradition and the other is more free form. Lan Wei wishes to teach students about the old ways; i.e. Rituals under the moon and honoring the horned god and mother goddess along those lines. Elefthria wishes to teach students that there is freedom in the old ways. There is combat magic but its not wholly set on combat.
As for the aspect for the school itself,
1. Yes, the schools are boarding schools.
2. Teachers will be introduced when enough students are available
3. Already stated before
4. There are internal conflicts between the schools but there is a more over arching enemy the schools need to worry over.
5. How the students are selected....That is a good one.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Alright so the thing you need to figure out right off the bat is how to get people in two different locations ( presumably the schools are separated somehow ) in the same space. Or else you'll end up running two parallel roleplays which is a lot of extra work for you.

Next you need to come up with some little events that can be used to either show case the internal conflict, give your students something to do to progress their magic, or that ties into to whatever your over all plot is.

Example - maybe you can have a year long prank war between the students with individual events being specific pranks that each school plays on the other and somewhere along the way you weave in your greater conflict.

Or you can have like specific events set up by the school to allow the rival schools to show off their specific abilities. Like the two schools compete in little magic competitions like - potions or flying or who can make the best ritual or whatever. You'd have to think of competitions that highlighted each of the available magics. Maybe each competition is stacked in a specific schools favor and you can have the students explore that as they compete.

RoyalPhoenix32

 

[rae2nerdy]

Basically the big thing for school roleplays is you have to have a clear idea of how to get players to interact in a way that still progresses the over all story. So that's a lot of the work you have to do before you get things started.

Once you have an idea for some mini events and a rough idea of how to incorporate the overall plot your next step is to determine what kind of roleplayers you want.

Are you wanting people who contribute to your story and are willing to instigate their own mini plots or help flesh out the over-all conflict OR are you wanting people that are content to follow along on a pre-set story and follow your lead?

Are you wanting a roleplay that is fast paced or one that is slower?

How comfortable are you with handling conflict? Are you okay with the idea of kicking people out if they cause disruptions to your story/other players?

What kind of limitations do you want to place on your players? ( ex. no killing other playable characters, no characters with more than two magic types, no more than two characters per person, etc. )

 

[RoyalPhoenix32]

rae2nerdy
The schools are. Events....The only event I had in mind is the students getting attacked on their way to school but that would be too much early on. Oh! The two schools always gather together to welcome the new students to their schools in a valley that is not far from both schools. One is in a temple like school (Elefthria) and the other is in a cavern (Lan Wei) so the valley is neutral territory to both schools. An event can come up there. People start with one 'affinity' or element and work their way up.

 

[rae2nerdy]

rae2nerdy
The schools are. Events....The only event I had in mind is the students getting attacked on their way to school but that would be too much early on. Oh! The two schools always gather together to welcome the new students to their schools in a valley that is not far from both schools. One is in a temple like school (Elefthria) and the other is in a cavern (Lan Wei) so the valley is neutral territory to both schools. An event can come up there. People start with one 'affinity' or element and work their way up.

Yeah I'd sketch out several events before you start the roleplay. It doesn't matter what they are really as long as they in some way incorporate the overall plot ( or at least give your players something fun to do with their characters. )

As the idea for this is you want your roleplay to keep momentum and the events let you do that without having to just cross your fingers and hope your players can come up with stuff to do themselves.

And that's also why each event need to have a set time for completion ( IRL ). So for instance the Attack can be your first Event and it can last for a week IRL giving hopefully all your players a chance to have their characters react to what is going on.

Then you need to come up with a second Event. Maybe "some" of the students ( the playable ones ) are kidnapped. So that's your second Event. This can take another week and just be your characters reacting to be taken somewhere and possibly plotting an escape which can move into your third Event - The Escape. Again your players have a week to post how their characters participate in the groups escape from their kidnappers.

After the Escape you can either have them return to the school or keep going on with other Events depends on how you want the story to progress along your overall plot.

But the idea is presumably each of the Events builds off the others ( or if you want to stick to the school setting each Event allows the students from each school to interact with one another somehow )

 

[rae2nerdy]

Another idea is to have at least four events written up before you start your roleplay. If you stick to the template of each event taking about 1 week IRL to complete then you have roughly one month of activities right from the beginning that should keep your players interested and motivated to move forward.

Now if you notice that your players happen to respond rapidly than you can shorten the length of time the Event takes or if you notice people aren't replying much or seem stuck feel free to move on to the next Event.

Also the Events do not necessarily have to happen back to back chronologically if you want to time skip months in the roleplay universe between Events that's fine too.

Now while it's good to start with four Events I wouldn't just stop making them after the roleplay starts. Instead ask your players if they happen to have any ideas or watch how they interact using their characters and see about coming up with Events you think they might like that also keep things moving forward.

 

[RoyalPhoenix32]

That sounds good. Thank you rae2nerdy .