Introduction
In PVE, good roleplaying is an integral part of the experience. As a result, roleplay standards are stricter than those seen on more action-oriented servers, such as CM-SS13 PVP. [Redundant Sentence suceeding 'PVP' and Paragraph Break] The following standards, though looser than strict rules, are meant to describe what roleplay should typically look like during an average round. Unless explicitly stated otherwise by a specific round’s Game Master, 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 Roleplaying Guide is a good starting point. [Paragraph Break] You are similarly recommended to engage with the PVE community on the discord if you are in need of clarification (especifically 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!
A number of the standards below have collapsable sections containing further clarifying information to their initial points.
General RP standards
0. The main Game Master [gives the impression of 'main' being a role] has final say over the roleplay standards in their rounds. No exceptions.
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| 1. You should strive to play a character that would be believable to see in the Aliens setting.
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| 2. You should attempt to maintain a basic level of literacy with as your character. [rewrite as 'You should try to keep your character's speech readable' or similar?]
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Importantly, this standard pertains more to the actual literacy [or readability] of text: roleplaying an accented character is more than acceptable. Even if accented speech is hard to comprehend; so long as emotes and similar are adequately intelligible there won't be any issues. A relevant focus on punctuation and capitalization is also encouraged.
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| 3. Try to play as your character not as yourself. [I think the italics were getting confusing, the comma is also ungrammatical]
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That is to say, interesting roleplay rarely comes from solely pursuing gameplay and operational outcomes (victory.) [Paragraph Break] Put yourself in your character's shoes as best you can. Would your character do XYZ freely, [abscence of the question mark reads better] or would it require significant reason to spur them into doing such? [Paragraph Break] For example, consider how your character would react if offered the chance to surrender in a hopeless situation: would they surrender willingly, trusting their captors to honour 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: [Paragraph Break] have they been wearing uncomfortable equipment for a long period of time; are they chafed to the point of complaint; are they tired and in need of food? [Paragraph Break] Things like these are worth thinking about during rounds to help add depth to your character and open up interactions with others. [Paragraph Break] An example of such in a '/me' (emote) would be: PFC John Marine, scratching his scabbed-over cut, asks his squad leader, "Hey, we breaking out the MREs yet?"
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| 4. Always try to engage your character in roleplay.
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A good character isn't one that avoids talking or interacting. [Paragraph Break] Contribute to the scene! Even if ICly there are reasons for your character to not speak much or interact with certain other members of their unit, that doesn't mean you should spend periods of downtime in the round completely silent. Whilst talking is the most common way to interact with other players, a simple emote can work in some situations just as well.
Engage in chatter and emoting! 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. [Paragraph Break] Engage with newer players even! The first few rounds for someone new to PvE, and certainly SS13 as a whole, can be very daunting. Help them acclimitize to what in-game interactions are like.
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| 5. Your character is sane and rational enough to serve in the military. Exercise rational self-preservation.
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[Could we include mention of other people?]Don't willingly hurt yourself, or commit suicide, without good reasoning. A (mostly) sane, well-rounded character would not engage in actions that are overly painful, or put themselves in harm's way, without consideration. [Paragraph Break] Examples include: needlessly stepping into the line of fire of a hostile sniper; deliberately stabbing yourself; or continuing to run at someone with nothing but a knife after being shot multiple times.
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| 6. Try not to use information which breaks character (metaknowledge.) The same goes for competently using skills your character isn’t good at.
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Always attempt to convey information a character would not say, or does not need to know, through LOOC. [Paragraph Break] 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. [Paragraph Break] 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.
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| 7. Inter-character relationships should be kept subtle, believable, and not significantly disrupt the flow of a round.
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Excessive fraternisation is frowned upon in most militaries, and (between those involved in the chain of command) a punishable offence. [Paragraph Break] 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 pretend to keep. [Paragraph Break] Marriages amongst personnel in the same company or aboard the same ship are not permitted.
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Lore RP standards
| 8. Try to avoid using lore that directly contradicts the codebase or the in-round statements of the Game Master.
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| 9. Unless retconned by a Game Master, the events of previous rounds can be loosely recalled by your character in subsequent rounds.
If the two contradict, the newer rounds should override.
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For example, if you’ve died previously but are alive now, you’re alive. [Paragraph Break] One caveat to this are "first contact" operations during which no player characters will have prior knowledge of the xenomorph threat.
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| 10. As the Alien setting was culturally sourced from the 1970s to late 1980s, attempt to avoid slang, references, and real-life history past 1986.
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| 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 said in-character.
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| 11. References to lore should be used by virtue of the ranking in this Alien source list.
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In exception, homebrew PVE lore and the Technical Manual rank higher than newer-written sources, like elements of the Alien TTRPG. [Paragraph Break] Similarly, in-round lore provided by the running Game Master rank higher than even those sources. [Paragraph Strikethrough] Some examples of PvE lore are our renditions of the Union of Progressive Peoples, and the Third World Empire, both of which differ a fair bit from how they're portrayed in the Alien TTRPG (and even the PVP wiki linked here.)
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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 Gorman had some redeemable qualities.
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13. Unless explicitly [sounds a bit too strict] permitted by the round’s Game Master, your character should be trying to perform their job to an acceptable standard.
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This is increasingly true the more important the job is. Corpsman, Section Sergeant and Platoon Commander (for USCM) [strange to hold corpsmen to account, or have to specify commanders] in the command standards] are at the stricter end of job competency. [Double bracketing] [Paragraph Break] Understandable or minor failures at doing so may result in IC consequences, but constant, repeated failures, without sense or reason, can result in jobban(s). as the military would probably not promote your character or pass them as certified for certain military occupations if they were completely unable to do their job.
Note that you are not expected to be a role-model member of the armed forces, but you are asked to not use your role to grief and to also have an OOC understanding of what’s going on. Honest mistakes, short of them being a constant occurence, will be punished.
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| 14. You should attempt to maintain some discipline under your command. Because of this, in-character punishment is encouraged.
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Be tough, but be fair. Senior command should afford you a level of respect from those underneath (to your face, at least). For those player-characters who don't, 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. Ultimately it's another player who is behind the controls of the other character. [Unnecessary with previous changes, methinks.] There may be some consequences they're grudgingly fine recieving, but pushing them past that point might make it just outright unenjoyable for them.
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| 15. Even if its believable, try to avoid 'collective punishment.'
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| Do not enforce needless punishment tasks on those who haven't earned them. Things like making the whole unit do physical training; cleaning the entire ship; or inventorying every little thing in storage. Most egregiously those examples all harm roleplay in the rolelplay-focused stage of the round.
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