OngoingWorlds blog

News & articles about play-by-post games, for roleplayers & writers

Nov
12

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What does Batman have in common with Mary Sue characters? More than you think!

Category: Character Development, Writing tips Tags: , 3 Comments

This article was written by Jenn Lyons, and originally published on the blog ‘Rewriting Mary Sues’, I’m republishing it here with permission because I thought it was relevent to roleplayers. 

Batman is a Gary Stu (Mary Sue)

I hate Mary Sues.

It’s not, however, for the reason that you might think. We’ve all encountered Mary Sue characters — a product of fan fiction (typically an author insert) who can do everything, fix all problems, knows everything and knows exactly how to solve any given mystery. Read More

Nov
2

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Does your character have unique traits?

Category: Character Development Tags: Leave a Comment

The Oatmeal eating spiders

We all put effort into creating our characters. Some of them are unique, some are not. We might think about what their personality is like, and what traits they have. There’s some ideas listed in the article here, which lists believable traits. But “believeable” isn’t always unique.  Read More

Oct
30

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PBEM definition: What is a Lurker?

Category: Advertising your game, Play-by-post discussion Tags: , , , 2 Comments

PBEM lurker kitty

Wikipedia’s definition:
In Internet culture, a lurker is typically a member of an online community who observes, but does not actively participate.

Lurkers – Good or bad?

As all posts on OngoingWorlds are publically accessible, you might have lurkers reading your posts. You might consider this good or bad.
But remember:

Lurkers might be people who haven’t joined your game yet.
Because all posts on OngoingWorlds are public (except for private games),they’re viewable by anyone. Someone can just start reading your posts like a book if they want, which is great because they might like it so much they’ll join. Or they might even decide that they’re just happy reading. Read More

Oct
22

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Characters who give you quests

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Character Development Leave a Comment

Cat Knights of nYour characters need something to do.

They might have their own personal quests, but likely at some point they’ll need soemthing else to do – which is why it’s useful to have an NPC who tells them what to do. Maybe it’s a boss, a client, someone who’s holding their loved ones captive, they’ll set out a challenge that needs completing before the story can move on. Read More

Oct
17

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2 week Halloween writing challenge – What’s your character afraid of?

Category: Competition, Inspiration for writing, Roleplaying community Tags: 35 Comments

Hey roleplayer dudes. After last month’s image competition I wondered if we should also run a monthly (or twice-monthly) writing competition. – Hey that’s something we all enjoy right? Writing!

This idea was partly inspired by seeing writing prompts on Twitter (like #WritingDare), & especially the writing prompts my brother posts on his ScifiIdeas blog.

Write about…

Weed monster

Your character encounters the most terrifying creature imaginable. It’s the creature of their nightmares. Where are they? What happens? How do they feel?  Read More

Oct
16

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Do people freak out too much about godmodding?

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Play-by-post discussion Tags: , , , 1 Comment

someone's godmodding

I recently created a new discussion thread on RPG-D to see how many people have heard of open roleplaying, and how popular it is. There’s a description of open roleplaying here, and a great article here which makes a great case for it being awesome. Read More

Oct
11

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The Trouble with Time Travel

Category: Inspiration for writing, Writing tips Tags: Leave a Comment

This article was written by Chris Kentlea, veteran of Blue Dwarf, and designer of kits and guides to help roleplayers at Ennead Games.

harold lloyd hanging around with the TARDIS

Time travel, forward and backwards, is a subject that can cause many problems for GMs and players alike. Read More

Sep
25

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The freedom of privacy – 4 reasons to make your game private

Category: OngoingWorlds guide, Play-by-post discussion Tags: 1 Comment

Roleplaying poster in the style of the Obama change posterI’ve noticed often in our hobby that many people like to keep themselves an enigma. Using usernames instead of real names, and keeping details about themselves on a need-to-know basis.

A number of people asked for private games to be a feature – which is now an option (see here). Here’s some reaons why you might want to have a private game:

  • If you’re nervous about your quality of writing – A private game will be seen by other members in your game, but nobody else. Allowing you to develop your writing skills with trusted people. Read More

Sep
24

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How to tell a Mary Sue to stop Mary Suing

Category: Behind the scenes - running RPGs, Character Development, Writing tips Tags: 9 Comments

Self-insert comicIt’s a common problem, someone joins your game with a character that’s far too overpowered, or way too “awesome” (or so the writer says). They’re a Mary Sue (Or a Marty Stu, or whatever – there’s actually loads of names for the same thing. Click here for an article explaining the different different types). Read More

Sep
18

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Console games – You’re playing someone else’s vision – are they imagination blockers?

Category: Inspiration for writing 3 Comments

playing someone elses creating vision

A friend of mine did something really interesting this year, he sold his Xbox and decided to dedicate his spare time to Warhammer 40k (a tabletop strategy game). He’s written an article about it titled “Why 40k is infinitely better than Xbox” where he explains his reasonings and he’s pleased he made this decision. Read More

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