Amplitude

Here are a list of guidelines for scenes run by Amplitude:

MUSHing 101

 * Keep it IC: Endeavor to not take things personally, in an OOC manner. You are not your character. Your character is not you. How does your character react to what is going on?  And keep that reaction IC, rather than targeting another player. This is the basic tenet of playing on a MUSH.


 * IC Actions => IC Consequences: When an action is taken, there will be a consequence for that action. Again, OOC sensibilities should not play into this. If your character shoots a civilian by accident, there should be a consequence. Perhaps it's just an inquest. Perhaps it's a trial. But there should be some reaction from the world...or other PCs...to what you did in character.

Posing

 * When posing in combat, I request that a player makes a brief OOC comment of 'Posing', just to let me know they know their action has come up in the queue.


 * I have never been a huge fan of 'round-robin' style posing. That's easy enough with a small conversation of two or three people, but once you get up to four, a single person going AFK can derail an entire RP scene. As a result, no such 'pose order' is required.


 * While a well-detailed pose is great, I would request that everyone keep poses to a single paragraph if possible. There are two reasons for this. First, it improves readability in a scene involving 6+ players. Secondly, it counteracts the effect of a giant pose overrunning the actions of other people.


 * By the same token, rapid-fire poses of single lines have a similar problem, making players feel like they've been 'run over'. I realize that three short poses kind of equate to a single long one, so I understand that this is sometimes harder to avoid, depending on a player's posing style.


 * Remember: One pose does not always equal one pose. As stated above, sometimes people fire off a few smaller poses in rapid succession. Think of those rapid poses as a single larger pose, in terms of the following item...


 * I personally think in terms of an 'action unit'. What do I mean by this? What singular action or comment that you make...could be responded to by others? That's the point where I suggest a pose (or rapid series of poses) should end - when someone else might respond. You've done an action...now what is the reaction?


 * If you're going to make a longer pose, it's good form to write most of it ahead of time, if at all possible. It's important to keep the action moving.

OOC Chatter

 * Please keep OOC chatter to a minimum. Game related comments are fine. Too much in the way of side commentary becomes distracting.

Joining Late

 * In general, joining late is okay. But it's not always possible, depending on where the scene is taking place. Like...on Tranquility. So, ask first. I will let you know if there's still room in the scene.


 * Players will always be welcome to popcorn. (Watch)

AFK

 * If you go AFK and your turn comes up while we're in phases, I will give you a minute or two to respond.


 * If you don't respond, I will assume your character is holding a full action, and I will move on. Stopping for several minutes while someone is AFK is a sure way to kill any momentum that a scene might have.

Strictness to Rules

 * I usually try to adhere to the rules as best I can. However, there are going to be times where I make a mistake. Or a rule might be missed. In general, I will make a judgement call and then roll with it, looking up the particulars of the rule later. I do this to make sure that the scene flows smoothly, but I also want to make sure that similar mistakes aren't made in the future.

Corrections

 * If I make a mistake in a scene, I would request that someone nudge me politely about it. It's very easy to make a mistake in any game system, let alone a system as complicated as the Hero System. If I make an error, such as skipping someone's phase or misinterpreting a power, please just mention it to me politely. I will do my best to correct the error.


 * Again, politeness is important. We're doing this for fun. I don't want to feel like running a scene is a chore, or that it isn't appreciated. At the same time, I want players to have fun. My goal is to tell a compelling story that happens to have superheroes in it.

Misc

 * If I'm running a scene by using a PC alt of mine, and you have a comment to make or an action you want to take via page...please send the page to the alt I'm actually using. I may very well not notice a page sent to my staff alt. And then you'll get annoyed because you feel like I have chosen to ignore you. Let's please avoid that headache by making sure I actually see all requests in a timely manner. If it goes to the alt I'm using to run the scene, I'll actually see it.