Roleplaying is what Star Army is all about! You you have the power to control your character's words and actions and make a difference in the universe.

This SARP thrives around play-by-post roleplaying, which is a fun and creative solution to our collective geographic separation. So get out there, mingle, and play with your fellow players!

There are two main ways to roleplay on Star Army:

• Posting on the forums
• Joint posts

Single posting is fairly easy: just post your characters speech and actions into the appropriate role-play thread.

Posts are generally in chronological order. It's not required to wait for every player to have their turn, but it is courteous to give them a chance if you feel the story is starting to move along without their character; however, if the game is lagging and you are able to post, do it. And don't just post to yourself! Try to interact with other characters.

Two more more players can collaborate on an in-character post. This is referred to as joint posting. Joint posting saves time and can feel more exciting because it's done in real time.

These accomplish several things, including:

• Speeding up the pace of the roleplay.
• The ability to accomplish complicated combat scenarios.
• Making multi-character interaction fluid.
• Adding narrative, story, and theme to the overall plot arc in large portions.
• Being able to talk about what's going on in real time, with all or most of the participants present.

Joint posts usually undergo editing before being posted for others to read. All in all, the joint post is here for the enjoyment of all role players on this site! Enjoy the quickly evolving plot, or back and forth social situation your character is a part of! Later, others will be able to enjoy it as well!

Yahoo messenger and IRC were once the most common JP tools but Etherpad type sites have become the most favored and used. They're real-time multi-user document editors that allow roleplayers to write a group RP post simultaneously.

• yahoo_instant_messenger
• IRC
• Etherpads
  • Titanpad
  • Piratepad
  • PublishWith.Me
  • Shamblespad

When the needed players are all online, one of them will invite everyone else into a 'conference' to facilitate the JP. Just click 'Join this conference' when the request is delivered to your YIM client. When a GM posts 'ON:' to the conference, this is when OOC chatter should be kept to the plot, until 'OFF:' signaling the end of the JP is posted to the conference.

• ON: A signal that the JP has begun, at this point all OOC chatter not involving the plot must cease. To speak OOC, use brackets. '(message)' Followed by the setting (Example: “ON: YSS Sakura, Bridge”).

• OFF: A signal indicating a temporary halt in mid JP, usually for OOC clarification or catching up a late player. Normal OOC chat can take place without brackets.

• OOC: Out of character, actions or chat related to Earth, or messages in the JP attributed to you, the player, not your character. After the GM signals the JP's beginning, put OOC comments in parenthesis and try to keep them to a bare minimum.

• OOS: Out of Scene; actions or dialogue that characters in the scene cannot experience. OOS events should take place in seperate JPs.

• Editor: The player who has been tasked with clearing out all the chat handles from the raw transcript of the JP. They may also perform such tasks as spellchecking, fixing problem passages, and moving certain postings around slightly to improve the flow of the JP when read as a story.

• END: The end of a JP and end of a scene. The next JP will be a new scene, rather than a continuation.

• PAUSE: Similar to END, this signals the end of a JP, when the JP will be a direct continuation of the previously paused one.

If you're used to a posting only RPG site, this can get tricky when you're pre-disposed towards longer narratives for your character. This changes however, when you are role playing with many other players and their characters. If you're expecting an answer to a question from another character, don't add on actions that need to take place after an answer is received. A pre-assigned 'order' of posters can help to supplement this. Example A:

Player A: At his behest, Eve stopped and stood at attention in the halls of the Academy, apparently the senior instructor needed to speak with her.

Player B: “Just what unit would you like to train in first?” he asked, then walking away after receiving his answer.

In that assumed space of time before player A could respond, the GM might want to insert an external action. That is why this style can cause problems. Also, the answer Player A's character gave could not have been sufficient enough, or demanded an extended conversation on the part of Player B's character.

To reiterate, a shorter post does not have to mean a bad post.

Order: As mentioned earlier, the order of posting will normally follow a logical order. For example: Between five players, the GM might begin with a post to set everyone in the JP. The character that most immediately needed to post will either do so, or be asked to by the GM in OOC brackets. Then each player has their first post, and they continue in the same order unless a divergence is needed later.

If the above method is not used, or a more strict order is needed, the order will be decided beforehand, using the YIM handles of the players, or the players’ real names.

In some cases, there will be no order after the initial GM's first post. Instead, it relies on situational awareness on the part of the players involved. Posts will be entered on a need basis. A player may not post at all, while some others post frequently until the situation calls for their character's action to cease. A 'free form' or no order, can feel more realistic pre-editing, however post quality may suffer.

In the end, it is up to the GM to decide how strict their 'order' is.

The scene is where the focus and action of the Joint Post takes place, usually, in a space where all the characters (and thus, an imaginary observer) can interact with one another. It is considered rude to post actions and speech which occur outside of the scene, because A) It disrupts the scene and B) characters can't react to it. A scene is generally a room or area, such as a ship's bridge or a clearing in a forest; it is generally specified at the start of a roleplay (eg; ON: “YSS Sakura Wardroom”).

It is both the players and the GM's responsibility to keep things within a unifed scene. Think of the roleplay as an interactive movie. You have one camera–the reader. You can skip between scenes if it makes sense, but DO NOT just throw everything together, or things will get horribly confusing.

Players who post out-of-scene might have their posts removed from the edited transcript.

The best way to avoid being Out-Of-Scene is to have your character join the others.

• Always make sure you have the time to JP. If you're not sure, ask how long it's expected to take. If you have to leave early, or can't JP at all, be sure to explain it to your plot's GM.
• Don't GM anything unless asked to do so.
• If you have to go away from your computer a moment for whatever reason, be sure to let everyone know. This is OOC, of course. (Bathroom, be right back)
• Do your best to use English (US) spelling. If you're not sure about a word, or are a poor speller, remember that the editor will be double-checking before it is posted for others to enjoy. In other words, if you spell something incorrectly it's not the end of the world.
• Pull up the technical schematics, descriptions, or character biographies you think you might need for reference at a moment's notice. In other words, have multiple windows open in case you would like to access information you might need to glance at while composing a post.
• Do not post in the present-tense.

Once a JP is finished, it should immediately be posted in the appropriate roleplay forum. If editing is not possible (due to time constraints or software problems), post the unedited JP.

As a player, it is partially your responsibility to keep the game moving. You don't have to wait for the moderator to post to a turn when you're not in a combat situation. The moderator is only there to resolve major events that require mediation. So long as what is happening isn't going to change the face of the world, or isn't combat, don't wait for the moderator. Just continue roleplaying! You are encouraged to develop your character's relationships with others. Forge friendships, find a lover, argue, create rivalries, go out, see the sights! Experiment! Just don't do anything that will change the nature of the game without your GM's permission.

Most GMs even impose posting time limits in order to keep the pace up. If the game is lagging and you are able to post, do it. And don't just post to yourself! Try to interact with other characters to keep things exciting.

The subject is the person or thing taking action in a particular paragraph. If the subject changes, one should start a new paragraph. The subject (generally a PC) should always be mentioned in paragraphs, unless it is obvious (such as a verbal reply when only two characters are speaking). To avoid repetitiveness, you may want to vary the subject; for example, Ketsurui Hanako could be referred to as Hanako, the Shosho, Shosho Ketsurui, the Captain, the Blue-Haired Neko, the Golden-eyed girl, et cetera.