Roleplay Guide

## **New Dawn Roleplaying Guide**

In New Dawn, the overall purpose is for you, the player, to be given a chance to live out the life as your own original character, acting, communicating, and thinking like they would while simultaneously having fun while doing it. Forming companionships, building communities, accomplishing your personal goals, and even facing hardships are only a handful of examples that could potentially affect your character's story as well as the stories of the many other players you will come across in this new world.

## **Roleplay Standards and Conduct**

Roleplay, and the stories it creates between players and the lore of the world, is ultimately what drives the server to be successful and fun for everyone. A balanced blend of serious roleplay with a casual, friendly attitude is what we as a community constantly strive for to ensure maximum enjoyability.

Immediately upon submitting your character application, you agree to uphold yourself and others to these standards in order to maintain a long lasting community that all can participate and take joy in.

The players are the foundation of the server and it is crucial that everyone understands and respects these guidelines of standards and conduct. By doing so, we all collectively contribute to writing the grand story that is New Dawn.

## **How should I make my character?**

While the possibilities of your own character creation are endless, they are some needed limitations and rules. The server and its lore is based around a serious, realistic, medieval themed world with low-fantasy elements added in. Therefore, your character must fit into the pre established theme of the world, there are no exceptions. So long as you remain true to the theme, as well as the rules stated in the character application form, the story, traits and ambitions you build for your character are entirely up to you. Lastly, always remember that you are creating a unique, separate persona from yourself when you make your character. Your character is not you and should not be a projection or reflection of your real life self manifested into your in-game self.

## **I’ve made my character, now what?**

You’ve successfully created and submitted your character application, and it has been approved! The big question is, what should you do next? Well, there is no one single answer for this. However, first and foremost, you should consider what your character’s ambitions are and how your character would go about fulfilling them. Perhaps your goal is to be a wandering merchant, traveling from settlement to settlement peddling goods for a profit in hopes of building vast wealth and influence, or maybe you are a disgraced exile from your homeland, fleeing to start anew and make your mark on these new lands. This is important to consider, for if you have no starting goal for your character, you may have difficulty playing as them.

## **Emotes and Dialogue**

All in-character emotes/dialogue should be lore appropriate and age appropriate, as well as match the server’s theme. Modern slang and cursing should not be used, get creative and use your imagination, or better yet, create your own cultural slang or curse words that fit within the lore! Good, open-ended emotes add depth to your dialogue and roleplay. Remember that an emote is simply an action or attempted action, and not an outcome. It is also best to keep your emotes specific and in the present-tense and to make sure that your emotes do not attempt to influence or manipulate the outcome of the action. *Example:*

**What Not To Do:**

William slaps Christopher in the face. or William stabs Christopher through the heart.

**What Could Work:**

William attempts to slap Christopher in the face. or William tries to lunge at Christopher to stab him in the heart.

**What Works Best:**

William angrily steps forward, winds his arm back with an open hand and attempts to slap Christopher in his face. or William lets out a fierce yell, gripping his sword with rage as he attempts to plunge it into Christopher’s heart.

**Characters Thoughts**

*Remember that voicing your character’s thoughts to the public is considered metagaming, therefore, translate your in-game thoughts into in-game emotes to best display them.*

## **Trollplay**

Trolling under the false pretense of “roleplaying” to conceal metagaming intentions, rule breaking, and or inappropriate joking/goofing around, is strictly forbidden. This action typically takes your out of character self into the in character world and lore, effectively undermining the story and roleplay of everyone. If all parties are consensually joking in a light-hearted, appropriate manner within the context of the world and their in-game characters, there is no issue!

## **Roleplay Conflict and PvP**

It is inevitable that some players and or groups of players within New Dawn will come into conflict with one another eventually, despite roleplay attempts to prevent it. Conflict is often associated with struggle and loss, which many players dislike due to its perceived negative effects it will have on their characters. However, conflict is a natural part of life and roleplay and works not only as a method in resolving disputes or grievances, but also as another dynamic chapter in your character, and the server’s overall story.

## **Why PvP?**

Many times, peaceful, roleplay compromises cannot be achieved, if so, PvP typically can be the next best method to resolve many RP situations. However, keep in mind that using PvP to resolve issues does not necessarily mean RP cannot, and should not still occur. Good RP should always be present before, during and after any kind of PvP.

## **Roleplaying During The Conflict**

Players conducting roleplay with their enemies can sometimes lean towards players acting with hostile attitudes and personal grudges; this behavior, within the context of the characters and ongoing conflict, are warranted and sometimes even encouraged. However, such hostilities and grudges should ALWAYS remain an in-character exclusive attitude, they should NEVER become out-of-character arguments of the server into the Discord, DM’s, the Enjin website etc. Such behavior can create an unfriendly and toxic environment for all those involved and those witnessing it. Keep the conflict and banter limited to the server and the server only. Always conduct yourselves with good sportsmanship, win or lose, no matter the end result. Conflict should also very rarely dissolve into needless, unfair permanent death and roleplay punishment, especially if the scale of said conflict is relatively small. If you believe another player/players are not conducting themselves properly whether in or out of character, do not be afraid to calmly and respectfully bring up your concerns with available admins.

## **Victory/Defeat, now what?**

Most conflicts result in someone being the victor and someone being the defeated, how the roleplay progresses past this is completely up to you. The victor should be wary to not completely rob the defeated of their experience on the server, and do their best to keep the roleplay balanced and not too one-sided when possible. However, also keep in mind that unforeseen loss, hardship and setbacks should not be seen as reasons to give up, but rather as character development for you to further advance your story.

## **Unfavorable Roleplay**

Not all roleplay will be in your favor, and that is okay! Nobody will always get their way nor can they always control what happens to them, however, you can control how you react and what you do in response to unfavorable roleplay. You may not agree with, or like the situation you find yourself in, but you must respect it so long as it is done in accordance with the server rules.

## **Bad Roleplay**

Due to the vast difference in player demographics and backgrounds, there can be a vast variance in how people roleplay. Not everyone you come across will have the same level of experience as you, it is important to remember that and if possible, guide and cooperate with said player. If they do not cooperate with you, or are role playing poorly, simply use /st create (description) and explain to an online admin the situation, while the admin assists the newer player, you will more than likely be able to part ways.

## **Fitting into the Theme**

As stated before, the server takes place in a low-fantasy, serious, medieval theme, this theme should be reflected into every aspect of your roleplay. Everything from speech, mannerisms, architecture, clothing, culture, titles and naming, to name a few. Although there can be no real world and or fantasy world references within the server, there is nothing wrong getting inspiration from real world or fantasy worlds for your characters, culture, religion, nation etc.

## **Feudalism, Nation Building and Titles**

One historical practice that is partially reflected in the server is the practice of feudalism (explained below). Feudalism - *the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.* Obviously, feudalism cannot always be fully represented due to the nature of the game, however, the practice of “nobility holding lands granted to them by the Crown (their liege lord) in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles” can and if applicable, should be practiced. Doing so creates a dynamic and functional social hierarchy within your nation. As your nation expands, it is unrealistic to expect your nation leader to be able to effectively control and defend your entire territory all by themself (especially if they have a busy life outside of the server). Relying on vassals either created, conquered and or assimilated by your nation, your leader can delegate other players they trust to rule over assigned lands and foster roleplay within them. On the other hand, although this is a suggested practice, you are not required to do it. It is simply a tried and tested system that helps players (specifically nation leaders) manage their nations more efficiently while also adding a realistic layer of roleplay for them and their members. Whatever system of social hierarchy and government you decide on, additional details such as culture, religions, traditions, language, and mythos should also be considered when founding your nation to not only give it more life and flavor, but to also give your members and or other players a sense of belonging, unity and pride. The more detailed your nation past its name and settlements, the more lore and history can be grown around it. Titles are another important aspect of roleplay and nation building, for they let you display one’s role or designation in a hierarchy to other players. Below will be some common titles and ranks one may find in a medieval feudal society:

**Baron/Baroness**

Ruler of a Barony, typically lowest landed title.

**Count/Countess**

Ruler of a County, generally of middling rank and status in noble hierarchy, comprised of one or more Baronies.

**Duke/Duchess**

Ruler of a Duchy, generally of upper ranking and status but still below that of a King, comprised of one or more Counties.

**King/Queen**

Ruler and monarch of a Kingdom, with varying levels of authority and power, comprised of one or more Duchies.

**Other Titles**

*Different real life cultures have a wide variety of names for their titles and ranks that correlate with the titles above, for example, Tsar, Basileus, Earl, Archduke, Prince, Knyaz, Khan, Boyar, Emir, Sultan, Caliph, Jarl, etc, to name a few. Ultimately, the choice in naming is yours as long as it adheres to server rules and generally fits the theme.* *Some examples are:*

**Doge**

Elected officials of a Republic, *specifically in the context of the Maritime Republics of Venice and Genoa*

**Chieftain/Chieftess**

Leader of a people, clan and or tribe, ascension to power varies.