Roleplaying at ARPOIAF

## What We Are

A Roleplay of Ice and Fire is a roleplaying forum based on Reddit, where users come together to write and collaborate in a shared world and their actions and decisions affect the people around them. It takes place after the events in the books have concluded, though in an alternate universe where the kingdom is split between kings Tommen I Baratheon and Aegon VI Targaryen following the War of Five Kings.

## How the Roleplay Works

This is a reddit based RP - so all of the actual roleplay is done on /r/ARPOIAF. Basically, once you have your character approved and ready to go, you begin by posting to the sub - you write and describe what your character is doing, or going through, or thinking. Some people have storylines outlined before hand, and work toward some end goal. Others take in events around them, and develop their characters more organically. There is no right nor wrong way to go about it.

The key to any roleplay is interaction. Your character will be affected by the decisions and choices of other characters, especially those nearby. You can interact with these people by commenting on their posts (often called threads) and beginning a conversation. They will then reply, and so on, and so on. Its usually best to arrange such interactions OOC - use our Discord chatroom to get to know your fellow roleplayers.

A big issue many new players have is grasping how the timeline works. Because this is a forum-style roleplay, and not everyone can be on all the time, our timeline works in a very fluid fashion. You're allowed to have more than one thread open, where your character is interacting with more than one person at a time. At this time there is no direct IC time - OOC time conversion. (More on how time works can be found below, in the TIme, Travel, and Distance section.)

Getting the hang of reddit RP can take some time, but with the help of the ARPOIAF community, it won't be as hard as you think. All of Westeros and Essos is open to you - you, as your character, can interact with it however you see fit. Craft your character's story in a way that is meaningful to you - and watch as it meshes and builds upon the tales of those around you.

## Creating a Character

Creating characters on ARPOIAF is a simple one-step process, but before you begin you must first have a character in mind. Westeros, Essos, and the lands beyond are home to a wide cast of races, cultures, and civilizations, the vast majority of which are open for your choosing. You should, however, choose a character that you’re interested in writing, and won’t abandon.

If the house your character is from has not been established by another player in the RP, you’re free to flesh out its family members. If a house you wish to play in has already been claimed, feel free to contact the player who established it, and talk to them about picking up a member. Most players are more than happy to share a house – but if they refuse, you must pick a different one. Though we do our best to make sure there are plenty of family members for new players to pick up, there are, of course, a limited number of members in each family. Late additions to Great Houses will not be accepted.

### Character Skills, Abilities, or Traits

ARPOIAF is a ‘roleplay’ (RP) rather than a 'roleplaying game' (RPG); that means your character’s traits ought to come out through your writing, not a list of skills. It's advised that you don’t create a character based around a skillset, but rather choose skills that fit the character you wish to create. There is no skills-sheet here, but writers must make note of any advanced skills or exceptional characteristics their character may possess on their application for approval.

### Applications

Once you have your character in mind, you’re ready to move on to the character creation process. Completing he application is a fairly simple procedure, meant to be thorough and detailed without being overwhelming. It asks for the most basic aspects of the character you have in mind (their name, house, titles. age, appearance, etc.), but also requires an outline of your character’s history, family, and household, and which gets you to make decisions on just who your character is. A successful application needs two moderators' approvals.

Two characters may be applied for when a writer initally joins the roleplay. All others must wait until these characters are adequately established.

Abilities involving magic are approved at moderator discretion for players who have already proven themselves mature and responsible writers - this includes the possession of special creatures.

### Alts

Alternate characters, or Alts, are characters that are played by a person who already has one or more previously established characters. In ARPOIAF you are allowed to make as many as you wish dependent on your activity level, whether or not you have dropped any characters, and at the discretion of the mods. No two alts may be of the same house, and we encourage you to branch out, trying your hand at different regions, personalities, and walks of life.

## Jumping In

Once your application has been approved by two moderators, you’re ready to begin! How you do that is entirely up to you. It's often a good idea to get a general grasp of what has been going on in your region – this can be achieved by visiting our State of the Realm page, or by hopping on the Discord server to talk with our incredibly helpful community. Once you have your bearings, the world is yours to explore. Go on an adventure, try your hand at court intrigue, or attempt to expand on the glory of your house. How you roleplay is up to you.

## Time, Travel, and Distance

Because ARPOIAF Is a roleplay, not an RPG, the focus is on the story, not “winning”. Things like travel and distance and time – while important – are also fairly malleable. There is no direct correlation between IC time and OOC time, nor is there a hard and fast rule on how long you should wait between posts when traveling. Most often such decisions are left to the discretion of the player, though of course the mods will step in if they feel action needs to be taken. A good way to keep things aligned is to remember that you cannot ‘win’ a roleplay. Attempting to move too quickly in an effort to defeat your opponents, or skipping over long stretches of time or distance to gain an advantage, are both examples of metagaming, and are frowned upon. Do your best to keep your timeline in line with other players. Communication with the rest of the community and the mod team is a fantastic way of doing this.

The moderators will keep a watchful eye out for timebubbles and will help to facilitate moving past them, making decisions for absent writers if the need arises. The moderators will also keep players abreast of when a new moon is due to arrive, so that everyone can attempt to stay on the same page/timeline.

## Wealth and Conquests

To continue on with the theme of ‘there is no winning an RP’, wealth and conquests are two features that are often too strongly focused upon by new players. No one is saying you cannot be rich, or conquer plenty of lands – but the story is the focus here, not artificial gains. While the overarching fortunes of your family can absolutely affect how you RP, the gritty details are usually unimportant.

Conquests are similar. If you mean to take up a title in Essos, or Westeros, and immediately begin to conquer the world, you’ll find your process slow going. Wars are not fought nor won in a day. They take time to build up, prepare for, and execute. While major shifts in borders are possible, expected, and even hoped for, try to avoid creating a character just to wage war on others. We cannot stress enough that the focus should be on your story – not victory.

## Battles

There are two ways for battles to be decided. The first way is for the participants to settle upon an outcome between them. If both parties agree on how the events occur, they can write out the battle as they see fit, and post it on the subreddit.

If the combatants cannot agree, however, a Narrator-run battle will take place. This is facilitated by the Narrator, and will be an interactive battle post in which success and damage rolls are made that will produce a binding and final decision. Players may lose their characters in such a battle, or suffer wounds or capture.

## Where You Fit In

Each story and character is unique. Every player that joins ARPOIAF brings something to the table that wasn’t there before, and is a valued and appreciated member of a story we all work together to create. Whether you wish to play as a king or beggar, merchant or mercenary, your tale will contribute to the lore of ARPOIAF, giving it depth, purpose, and hopefully giving your fellow RPers an even more fleshed out world to expand upon. What you choose to do with your time here is up to you – but every story, no matter its size or scope, is welcome.