Roleplay basics

Roleplaying happens when a group of people come together to create a story. On our server, the roleplay takes place over text on different channels, corresponding to Fallout 76 ingame locations. Roleplayers write responses to one another through discord posts. Each post describes the character’s actions, speech, and maybe emulate what they may be thinking.

When you roleplay, you assume the role of a character. A character is a made-up entity that fits the Fallout universe, and you write about their adventures through their perspective. **Your character isn’t you, and you aren’t your character - you’re separate entities.**

**Realism** is an important aspect of creating a flowing storyline. If you create a world with rules and then break those rules later (especially unintentionally), it irritates the reader. Roleplay realism is not exactly like real life realism, but it is especially important in Persistent World roleplaying because many people are writing in the same universe.

# "In character" and "Out of character"

One of the most important things to remember in roleplaying: **your character can be different from you.** This means "in character" **(IC)** does NOT equal "out of character" **(OOC)**. Keeping that in mind is very important for an enjoyable roleplaying experience. Just because a character dislikes your character does not mean that the player dislikes you.

## Interweaving stories

It's important to remember that your character is NOT the central plot point of the world at all times. This is different to how Fallout the game makes a player character feel. Joining a Persistent World means you are just one of many people trying to make do in the Wasteland. Play to that story; don’t expect others to gravitate toward or even care about your character in any particular moment.

## Actions equal consequences

An essential of roleplaying within our server is remembering you are writing a story with many other players. Though your character is important to you, others’ characters are equally important to them. There is great freedom in online roleplaying, but it is not absolute.

It's important to remember that for your character’s actions, there are often consequences. Though it was a fun plot when your character suddenly snapped and had a fight, the Dungeon master may not approve. This plot could end up with your roleplay character being killed, reprimanded, or kicked out of a location ingame.

**Don’t expect to be able to do whatever you want at all times.** If you roleplay, there are other people playing, too. If your character does something, other characters will react. Some roleplaying communities have courtesy policies requiring at least cursory discussion of certain plots. We heavily encourage you do this in either private messages or the #tabletop channel. If you do not extend this courtesy to others before plotting something out of the ordinary, you may end up with some unintended or unwanted consequences.

## Player character death can happen

**Nobody is immune to death** - not player characters (PCs), not non-player characters (NPCs), or dungeon masters' player characters. Death can happen, and there are mechanics in place to ensure your character has a fair shot at either surviving or dying.