Every now and then, it is a good idea to remind ourselves of the roles that thoughts, narration, and dialog play when role playing in an RPG. When everyone understands and respects these roles, then the story runs smoothly, and character's sovereignty are respected.
 |  | sov·er·eign·ty
Relevant entry
4. rightful status, independence, or prerogative. |
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This is the key word for how to treat and react to other player's posts:
Sovereignty. I'll explain.
Sovereignty of ThoughtsThoughts are provided by the author of a post to give the readers insights into their state of mind, their personality, and their psychology. Often these thoughts are accompanied by narration describing the character's body language, facial expressions, or other outward indications of inner thoughts. However, it is a player's
sovereign right to decide how much, if any, of those inner thoughts appear on the surface. For example:
| | Mary sat at her desk mulling over the application that Jane had handed her. Jane sat in the chair across from her desk, waiting for her response. Mary would look up and over the rims of her glasses at Jane, and then back down again – several times. What a god awful piece of crap this is, thought Mary. She maintained a neutral and professional expression as she read. She would hum and haw a little, tilt her head as though she found something interesting, and then continue reading. After a few minutes, she brought her attention back to Jane.
“I see you have had experience in Baby Bauble Bunny Bagging before,” she said, noncommittally. |
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Red indicates the sections that Jane would not be allowed include in her follow up post.
Green indicates the sections that are fair game to include in her follow up post. Naturally, Mary's thought are not fair game in a response as she has clearly stated that she maintained a
neutral and profession expression. Her thoughts, in this case, help the reader better understand what is actually going on. They are not for re-use by Jane in any other post.
For example, the following demonstrates what Jane is
not allowed to post.
| | Jane sat nervously in her chair. She tried not to look up into Mary's face, but she could not control her curiosity. On one such glance, she could see that Mary thought the application was crap. Jane sighed, thinking that there was no hope of getting a job. |
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Red indicates the section which violates Mary's character's sovereignty. This is not acceptable and, as most good Rper's will suggest, is a form of cheating.
Remember:
In RP, thoughts are sovereign. Your characters cannot know those thoughts unless, and only unless, the player has made it obvious by their body language or by something they have written in dialog.Note: There are exceptions to this rule in Bloodwyne. Ancients may read the mental state of lessor vampires. Sires may read the mental state of their Sired children. Opacarans may share their thoughts, but
only when both players agree to do so.
Sovereignty in NarrationNarration is used to offer a character's view of the environment, provide background information about their lives, or provide supplemental information to support their thoughts and dialog. Other players may
not respond to any of the background or supplemental information provided in another character's posts.
If, for example, Mary's post includes commentary about a little dog she once had that reminded her of Jane, then Jane cannot magically know anything about her dog unless there is some outward indication: such as a picture on her desk. In almost every case, narration is offered to enhance the story, to give and react to plot ideas, or to move the character around a space.
The exception to this is any description of Mary's body language, facial expressions, breathing, or handling props in the scene. These are outward actions and reactions of the character, and are open for only those in the immediate vicinity of the character to acknowledge.
Likewise, any of Mary's actions are hers, and are the only actions that may be used in subsequent posts.For example: Mary leans back in her chair, lifts the application up and covers her face, thinks for a moment, then sets the application down.
These are the only actions that any other player may use. Jane, for example, would not be allowed to suggest that Mary nearly fell out of the chair, or that she tossed the application to the table, or that she suddenly grew wings and flew around the room. As obvious as this seems, some Rpers have taken liberties with the actions of other players.
Remember:
In RP, narration is sovereign. The outward actions, and only the outward actions, may be used in later posts.
Sovereignty in DialogThere are several points of interest in the sovereignty of dialog. Firstly, what a character says (as indicated in quoted text), may be freely used in subsequent posts; but
only by characters who are close enough to hear it. This means someone on a mountain range in Tibet when Mary and Jane meet, cannot return to the scene later and claim to have heard what Mary said. That is, of course, cheating.
Also, what a character has spoken is
all that the character has spoken. If Mary tells Jane, “Your penmanship is impressive,” then Jane cannot claim that Mary said her penmanship was bad. There are exceptions to this, of course.
Sometimes our characters are written to be a bit deaf of what some people say. We all know someone like that. You tell someone something such as, “I can't promise to buy you lunch tomorrow, but I will try,” but the next day they claim you promised to buy them lunch. This is a human thing and all a part of good writing. If a character is designed to be such a person, then it would be understood. Generally, however, this is not a good thing to do. Anyone reading later posts expect that dialog is dialog and should be respected.
Remember:
In RP, dialog is sovereign. Do not put words in other character's mouths, and do not simply ignore what they have said unless it is a recognizable feature of the plot and scene.
By remembering these three important aspects of role playing, we can all have a great time writing, playing our characters, moving the plot, and stirring up the drama; all free of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, or uncomfortable situations. Even the most seasoned of Rpers slip on one or another of these rules from time to time. We are only human. So, it's good to have a reminder. And here it is! Happy Gaming and Role Playing!
Valis.
Logged
