OngoingWorlds blog

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

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Everything you need to know about Fanfiction

Fanfiction characters reading fanfiction about them

This article was first written by Jenn Brown as a talk for Derby Scribes, a group that meet every two weeks to discuss writing. I thought it was relevant to post here to show the similarities and differences between fanfiction and roleplaying.

Fan fiction is a piece of fiction that is set is somebody else’s fictional universe. It can be based on films, television programmes, books, or games. It could be a novelisation of events already dreamed up by the original creator, but is more usually a story of the fan’s own making that simply uses the original creator’s characters and universe for its actors and stage. It’s mainly an internet phenomenon, as the ‘net provides the perfect basis for sharing it with other fans.

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9 Reasons why Baby Doll from Sucker Punch is a Mary Sue

Poster for the film Sucker Punch

The film Sucker Punch is a fantasy feast for your eyes. A girl is locked away in a mental asylum by her abusive stepfather where she repeatedly retreats to a fantastical world in her imagination where she and four other female inmates battle monsters, soldiers, dragons, and robots. I couldn’t help watch the film without thinking of the main character (called ‘Baby Doll’) of a Mary Sue character. Here’s my reasons why.

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The many different types of Mary Sue

Mary Sues in multiple genres

Mary Sue characters are common in roleplaying and fanfiction, especially if the writer is an amateur and doesn’t yet know the error of their ways. Mary Sue characters are perfect in every way, they’re written so that everyone likes them, they’re smart, incredibly beautiful, incredibly useful, and can do just about anything. They don’t have any character flaws so can tackle any situation in their stride. After a while this behaviour becomes very boring and we’re reminded why decent stories have characters with just the right amount of interesting traits to add realism.

We call these types of characters “Mary Sue” after a Star Trek parody of a fanfiction story (see here for the origins of Mary Sue), but it’s not just females that make Mary Sues, the same annoying qualities can be given to males.

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Make sure your character acts their age

Child Trekkies

When you’re creating a new character you need to think about their age. Are they young or old? There are many different ways characters will act depending on their age, so it’s crucial you get it right for your character to be realistic.

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The origins of the Mary Sue character

Mary Sue on transporter pad

Mary Sue characters have been around long before there was a term to describe them. The original mention of the term Mary Sue came from a Star Trek fanfiction story called “A Trekkies Tale”. This story was a parody of other fanfiction stories written by hardcore Trekkies who insert a new character into the Star Trek universe and make them the bigger hero of the story than the original main characters.

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Base your game on a world people can relate to

Lord of the Rings world

If you’re creating a new roleplaying game, you might have given a lot of thought into the game you’re creating and the world where it all takes place. This might involve you doing a lot of worldbuilding to create a really imaginative but believable fantasy world. But remember that if you’re the next Tolkien or George Lucas, your members might not have the time to read the 10 pages of backstory and description about your world, how it was created and who each of the species are who inhabit it.

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Origins of the term “God Modder”

Dr Manhatten from Watchmen

If you’re a member of a text-based roleplaying game, or have ever been involved with one, you might have heard of the term God Modder. There’s an article explaining what this means here, but have you ever wondered where the term originated and why we use it in roleplaying games?

This article has been written by SMAndy, who is a GM of Reapers union and HMS Sovereign, and one of the moderators for Blue Dwarf.

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Terrifyingly Yours RP reaches 100 posts

Terrifyingly yoursGothic Horror roleplaying game Terrifyingly Yours is the first game on OngoingWorlds to reach over 100 posts. The game is set in the fictional Sweet Dreams Asylum where some patients realise they have special abilities, and that something isn’t right about the asylum.

The game is written in third person and reads like a gripping story that is created by its members.

The game was created by Duri Aspire, who I was able to ask some questions about her game.

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12 tips for dealing with a God Modder

Superman with Thor's hammer and Captain America's shield

God Modders can ruin a roleplaying experience for all other players, read my other article about godmodders here. But they’re most frustrating for the GM of a game, as they are the ones who have made the decision to totally ban these offenders, or help mould them into a decent player. The latter taking a lot more effort, and risking annoying every other member in the process.

For this article I’ve been helped out by several roleplaying veterans! Here are 12 tips for dealing with a God Modder:

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Interview with a Star Trek author

STAR TREK: TYPHON PACT zero sum

Zero Sum Game is one of Mack's novels in the Star Trek: Typhon Pact series

I was recently told by Miles Unam from the PBEM group Starbase 118 that he’d managed to get an interview with Star Trek author David Mack.

David Mack is the national bestselling author of more than twenty novels and novellas, including Wildfire, Harbinger, Reap the Whirlwind, Precipice, Road of Bones, Promises Broken, and the Star Trek Destiny trilogy: Gods of Night, Mere Mortals, and Lost Souls. He developed the Star Trek Vanguard series concept with editor Marco Palmieri. His first work of original fiction is the critically acclaimed supernatural thriller The Calling.

In addition to novels, Mr. Mack’s writing credits span several media, including television (for episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), film, short fiction, magazines, newspapers, comic books, computer games, radio, and the Internet.

Mr. Mack was gracious enough to talk with Tallis Rhul, a member of UFOP: StarBase 118, about his experiences with writing for Star Trek and his advice for aspiring writers. This is the first time I’ve seen a member of a PBEM game get an interview with a professional author, and it’s really interesting to read about how he has created new villain aliens in the Star Trek universe, as well as expanding on existing races, like the Breen, which was a race only barely mentioned in Star Trek: DS9.

You can read the full interview at StarBase 118’s website here