PVE:Roleplay Standards

Work in Progress

This page has been designated as a work in progress. To locate any other work in progress pages head here

Introduction

In PVE, good roleplaying is an integral part of the experience. As a result, roleplay standards are stricter than those seen on the more action-oriented servers, such as CM-SS13 PVP. The following standards, though looser than than strict rules, are meant to describe what roleplay should typically look like. Unless explicitly stated otherwise by the Game Master hosting a round, these are the standards you are expected to aspire to during a normal round.

If you are completely new to roleplaying, it is recommended to have a basic understanding of roleplay concepts before reading these standards; (Paradise Station’s Guide is a good starting point.) You are similarly recommended to engage with the PVE community on the discord if you are in need of clarification (especially members of the GM team.) Bear in mind, the roleplay standards are not here to daunt you from roleplaying, and we will always try to advise on ways to improve roleplay before punishing it. This is a roleplaying game and games are meant to be (first and foremost) entertaining: enjoy it!

Please Note: A number of the general standards below have collapsable sections containing further clarifying information

General RP standards

0. The hosting Game Master has final say over the roleplay standards in their rounds. No exceptions.

1. You should strive to play a character that would believably exist in the Aliens setting.

2. You should try to keep your character's roleplay readable.
Importantly, this standard pertains to the literal readability of text: roleplaying an accented character is more than acceptable. Even if a character's accented speech is not wholly comprehensible, it is acceptable so long as other forms of roleplay keep characters engaged (such as emotes.) A relevant focus on punctuation and capitalization is also encouraged.

3. Try to roleplay as your character not as yourself.

That is to say, interesting roleplay rarely comes from solely pursuing gameplay and operational outcomes (victory.) Put yourself in your character's shoes as best you can: would your character do something freely, or would it require a significant reason to spur them into doing such? For example, consider how your character would react if they were offered the chance to surrender in a hopeless situation: would they surrender willingly, trusting their captors to honor their offer; would they fake their surrender, only to go down in a blaze of glory; or would they refuse to surrender, being killed by the hostiles as a result? Another part of this is how, both emotionally & physically, your character feels at any given point: have they been wearing uncomfortable equipment for a long period of time; is it chafing them to the point of complaint; are they hungry and low on food? Things like this are worth thinking about during rounds to help add depth to your character and open up interactions with others. An example of this in a '/me' emote would be; PFC John Marine scratches at a scabbed-over cut, asking his squad leader, "Hey, we breaking out the MREs yet?"

4. Always try to engage your character in roleplay.

Good characters do not avoid interacting: contribute to the scene! Even if there are in-character reasons for your character to not interact much with other, specific characters, that doesn't mean you should spend periods of downtime in the round completely silent. Whilst talking is the most common way to interact, a simple emote can work in some situations just as well. Engage, chat and emote! React to what's ongoing with other players, and build rapport with one another. It all serves to flesh out the characters and make them feel more than just two-dimensional caricatures. Engage with newer players even! Those first few rounds in PvE, and certainly SS13 as a whole, can be somewhat daunting. Help them acclimitize to what roleplay interactions are like!

5. Your character should be sane and rational enough to serve in the military. Try to exercise rational self preservation.

Don't willingly hurt your character, or kill your character, without good reasoning; causing other characters harm should have appropriate reasoning too. A (mostly) sane, well-rounded character would not engage in actions that are overly painful, or put themselves in harm's way, without consideration. Wilful examples of this include: stepping into a hostile sniper's line of fire when your character doesn't absolutely need to; stabbing your character repeatedly; or continuing to try and knife someone after being responsively shot at multiple times.

6. Try not to use information which breaks character (metaknowledge.) The same goes for competently using skills your character isn’t good at.

Always attempt to convey information a character wouldn’t say, or does not need to know, through LOOC. Restrict yourself to your character's knowledge. You, as a player, might know how the surgery system works in PvE, but that doesn't mean the rifleman you are playing could walk someone through a procedure in-character. If your character does not know how to perform a job, do not go and do it yourself anyway. Instead, request the assistance of a character who does.

7. Inter-character relationships should be kept subtle, believable and not significantly disrupt the flow of a round.

Excessive fraternisation is frowned upon in most militaries and, between those involved in the chain of command, often a punishable offence. The less-regulated discipline of a patrol ship can allow for greater relationships than would be typically allowed in most militaries (see the relationship of Drake and Vasquez in Aliens,) but there is still a discipline that even a patrol ship would be expected to keep. Marriages amongst personnel in the same company, or aboard the same ship, are not permitted.

Lore RP standards

8. Try to avoid using lore that directly contradicts the codebase or the in-round statements of the Game Master.

9. Unless retconned by the hosting Game Master, the events of previous rounds can be loosely recalled by your character in subsequent rounds. If the two contradict, the newer rounds events should override.
For example, if you’ve died previously but are alive now, you’re alive. A common example of a Game-Master retcon would be "first contact" operations, during which no player characters will have prior knowledge of the xenomorph threat.

10. As the Alien setting is a 'retro-future' of the late-1970s to mid-1980s, attempt to avoid slang, references, and real-life history past 1984.
The internet as we know it never developed in the Alien setting, so avoid using modern internet slang in-character. Things such as "lol", "skibidi", ":3" and similar should not be used.

11. Except in the cases specified within, what constitutes PvE canon is by the ranking of this Alien source list.

The list is mostly definitive, except PVE that ranks its homebrew lore and the Technical Manual as highest, with PVP lore just beneath. Some examples of this would be PvE changes to the Union of Progressive Peoples, or the TWE's Royal Marine Commandos forces, both of which differ a fair bit from how they're portrayed in the Alien TTRPG and by PVP. As per standard 0 and standard 8, it is also the case that Game Masters can modify, discard, or add lore in their rounds as they see fit.

Command RP standards

12. Attempt to play a character that could have reached that rank through adequate demonstration of command or leadership, theoretically or practically. Your character should not be solely incompetent, even Lieutenant Gorman had some redeemable qualities.

13. Unless permitted by the round’s Game Master, your character should be trying to perform their command job to an acceptable standard.

This becomes more important if your character is senior. Understandable or minor failures at your job, but constant, repeated failures without sense or reason can result in jobbans. Note that you are not expected to be a role-model member of the armed forces, but you are asked not to use your role in actions which may incite actual annoyance or anger. Honest mistakes, short of them being a constant occurence, will not see you punished.

14. You should attempt to maintain some discipline under your command. Consequently, IC discipline is encouraged.

Be tough, but be fair. Senior command should afford you a level of respect from those underneath (to your face at least). For undisciplined player-characters, it's more than fair to require menial tasks such as push-ups or room cleanup. Just don't go overboard with it: prolonged disciplinary tasks should not be manifestly unfun, nor uninteresting, for the player being punished. Most players are fine with their undisciplined character getting what is due, but pushing them past a point might make it outright unenjoyable for them.

15. Even if believable, try to avoid 'collective punishment.'
Do not enforce needless punishment tasks on those who haven't earned them: things like making the whole unit do mandatory physical training; cleaning the entire ship; inventorying every little thing in the storage rooms. Most egregiously, it often harms roleplay in the rolelplay-focused stage of the round.