RP Guidelines

[Azula]

Hey there, fellow RPers! As the title clearly states, this here is a guideline for you, whether you be an experienced role player or if you're brand-new to this. Hopefully I can help both groups become better RPers.


Character Ranks

A listing of the different ranks.
Devouring Beast/Squad Member
Gillian/Senior Squad Member
Adjuchas/Officer (3rd Seats/Head Fraccion -can- be chosen from here)
Vasto Lorde/Elite Shinigami(those who have mastered their shikai, and some with bankai. 3rd seats/Head Fraccions can be chosen from here, and Lt-/Fraccion Commander-rank starts here)
Arrancar(fraccion and Espada alike are in this group; ones with their true form, their ressureccion, sealed within a sword. Humanoid in form, although the level of perfection varies)/Veteran (bankai is known and somewhat mastered...captain-class shinigami, although one can be a Lt also)

(keep in mind for hollows these aren't 100% accurate in terms of strength, as some Vasto Lordes can be stronger than arrancars. Mostly, the older the vasto lordes is, the stronger it is)

How To Post

Well, for a basic post you want to, at the very least, have some action. Let's say you're in a diner, drinking coffee while you listen to your friends Cell Phone and Key Chain talk. Here's some examples.

"Cell told Key about their day while Yuu sat at the table and listened. Yuu had a cup of coffee, and drank it silently while listening."

That is an example of a bad post. You are doing practically nothing. What are Cell and Key talking about? What kind of coffee is Yuu drinking? What do Cell and Key even look like? It's also only a 2-line post. You never want to make posts so short! 3-5 lines are iffy. The more, the better. Same goes for details.

"Sitting in a small diner on the corner of Desk Avenue, Yuu drank their coffee, black as preferred, while listening to their friends Cell and Key talk. Cell, a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes, was telling Key about how she was almost certain she'd flunked a test earlier that day. Key was a teen guy of the same age as Cell, with brown hair and black eyes. He was sympathetic, telling her that he, too, had found the exam hard, and that he had confidence Cell had done alright...or at least passed. Yuu, who wasn't enrolled in the Art History class, kept silent as they gazed out the large window at the front of the diner at the cars rumbling past."

Now this is better. Not only are Key and Cell somewhat described, their conversation topic is clear now, and you can almost imagine them talking, can almost visualize them as you think about Yuu sitting there drinking their nasty, bitter black coffee.


Grammar/Spelling

We would absolutely love it if you had good grammar and spelling, and a sense of punctuation, but keep in mind, you don't have to have those things to be a good RPer. We of the Grammar Nazi squad will correct things.


Post Order

Yes, post order. Let's say Yaku, Naomi, and Cell are RPing together. Naomi opens with the first post, then Yaku quickly joins in. Cell, who has limited internet time, makes a post about an hour later. The post order has been set, Naomi --> Yaku --> Cell
The next person who can post is Naomi. If Yaku posts, he breaks the post order and isn't giving Naomi time to react to what Cell did, especially if it's a fighting thread. Always, always honor the post order. Otherwise, you may leave for a day at a time and return to find 27 posts have been made in your absence. What a disaster! Instead of being able to respond to well with many details included, they are forced to skim over things, briefly mentioning while rushing frantically to catch up.

Format

Yes, format. Here's an example:

"I shunpo'd behind Yaku's back and then I slashed at his shoulders from behind."

You never want to use "I" and "me." This isn't you, it's your character.

"Naomi shunpo'd behind Yaku's back, then slashed at his shoulders from behind."

Naomi, my character, did this, not I. However, you character can think in "I" and "me," etc.

Example: "If only I could kill Naomi for using me as an example without consent," thought Yaku.


Interacting With Others

There are a couple ways to do this, actually. This one requires a bit longer RP post to make it a great example, so bear with me.

Yaku :Yaku snarled as he gathered up his reitsu in one hand, condensing it into a red sphere that swelled in size. The power it contained was enormous. "You think you are my equal....well, take this!"
Yaku thrust his arm forwards, firing his cero towards the young shinigami. Let's see how this goes...if all goes to plan, she's history!

Naomi: "You think you are my equal....well, take this!"
Naomi looked up just in time to see Yaku fire his cero at her; it roared towards her with frightening speed. Gasping, Naomi had just barely enough time to shunpo out of the way. She didn't quite make it, and her left arm was badly burned. Gritting her teeth, Naomi concentrated, the kido for which she had chanted the spell for earlier now ready for her to fire.
Racing towards Yaku, Naomi yelled, "Hado 31, shakaho!" The red orb sped towards Yaku, ready to explode if it made contact.

In this instance, the two people are actively including the other's action in their post. Including not only the other's actions, but their words in the post. It lets both sides of the fight be known.

Here is another way of posting.
Naomi: Naomi picked up the book the strange man had left on the bar counter. Guess he forgot this...I'll see if I can return it. She swiftly walked to the door and outside, following the distant footsteps from the hooded stranger. She found him leaning against a bridge, staring out at the water rushing past beneath him.
She called out to him, "Hey, mister! Helloo..."
She stopped at the place were the road met the bridge, watching him calmly.

Yaku: Staring down at the water below, Yaku sighed quietly. Tonight...how uneventful. At least-
Hey, mister! Helloo..."
Yaku jumped, startled, and looked around. Pure instinct made him snatch up a rock and hurl it towards the voice. It hit the ground just before her feet and she halted, right before the bridge. She watched him, unphased........"

Naomi might have ended the post there, stopping for some unknown reason, but Yaku expanded on that, giving a reason. Naomi didn't know how Yaku would have reacted, so she ended with an uneventful post-end. Yaku took that chance and made it interesting, adding in Naomi's unknown knowledge, making it as if the two posts are merely two pieces of the same puzzle, interlocking perfectly.


God-Modding

Yes, god-modding. "God Modding" is in essence when someone’s character has the ability to do practically anything without limits or boundaries. And example is when they simply cannot be harmed by any and all means other RP-ers try.

-It can be killing or injuring a character without the player's express permission. (Although there WILL be times when you'll be injured without permission, possibly even killed)
-It can be when they simply can’t be hit and dodge all attacks or anything for this matter aimed at them.
-It can also be using other characters that other people RP with. (You may RP with YOUR character only. You cannot control someone else's, even to a small degree)

It can also be abilities with incredible effects, or combining attacks in a hax way, such as an adjuchas firing two ceros at once, or an Officer casting three kido all at the same time.

Abilities by way of zan/ress will be looked over by RP Mods before you are allowed to start RPing. If they find a god-mod ability, they will talk to you about it, either in PMs or the chatbox, to indicate how it is overly hax and to help you dehaxify it. Worst-case scenario, you refuse to believe them/change anything, and they will be forced to either deny the whole creation or simply delete the ability.

Kido/Cero: Charging/Casting

Now, as you know, hollows use ceros/balas and shinigami use kido. All kido have an incantation that go with it, even though most shinigami don't need it for basic kido. The more powerful the kido, though...well, it goes to say you can't just yell, "Hado 99!" and destroy your opponent. You have to incant, even if you don't know the words. If you do, great! If not, your character can be described mumbling something. As for bala, they are fairly quick. Ceros, just like high-level kido, need to charge (incants are basically charging time)

How long, though? For most hollows, excluding espada-class, it takes a little while to charge and fire a cero. For RP purposes, we'll make this time 1 full post. You may do other things within the post, but if you begin to charge a cero at the start of the post, you cannot fire it until the next time you post. (And you can't just post again after yourself!) Gillian-level hollows and below require two posts.

Same goes for kido. This gets a bit more complicated, with all the shini ranks and the levels of the kido. This is an approximate guideline for this:
Squad Member: Kido levels 1-15 able no incantation, but cannot cast above 33
Senior Squad Member Can cast 1-27 without incant, but cannot cast above 46
Officer 1-43 able no incantation, but cannot cast above 60
Elite Shinigami 1-50 able no incantation, but cannot cast above 73
Veteran Access to most kido, excluding forbidden. Can cast 1-65 without incant, some even up through 70.

Here's some additional info on kido casting:

Eishōhaki: a class of Kidō Incantation where the Kidō practitioner forgoes using a spoken incantation at all. While it decreases the time needed to release the Kidō, it drastically weakens the spell. While anyone well versed in Kidō can use this technique, it is most effective when done by a skilled practitioner, otherwise the spell could utterly fail (i.e.: the spell explodes in the user's face). The most skilled experts are capable of using this technique to amazing effect.

Nijū Eishō: a class of Kidō Incantation where the Kidō practitioner mixes the incantations of two entirely separate Kidō spells together to save time and confuse ones' opponent at the same time.

Kōjutsu Eishō: a class of Kidō Incantation where the incantation is recited after initiating the spell in order to power it up. So far, only Hachigen Ushōda has been seen using this technique, in order to reinforce the nature of his Ryūbi no Jōmon during his fight against Baraggan Louisenbairn.

Keep in mind, kido cast without incantation is about one-third the strength of one with incant.


Ressureccion/Shikai

Res and zan! We love these things...for hollows, you need to be an Arrancar before you can get your res. As for shinigami...
You must be Senior Squad Member to unlock your zan. Maybe access to one move, although releasing should have a effect such as increased movement speed. Officer can have 2 moves unlocked and learned well. Elite can have up to 3, with 2 being mastered and 3rd... Veterans may have all their shikai moves learned and mostly mastered.
Note: There will be a limit on the number of zan moves you can have. Four is the current maximum.
Same goes for hollows, except they have a move set before they become arrancar, maximum of 3 moves Adjuchas, 2 at Devouring Beast. After arrancar, the moves -can- change a little and increase to 4. HOWEVER! They may not have them perfectly mastered unless they are espada-class.


Ressureccion Segunda Etapa/Bankai

For RSE/Bankai, there is a maximum of 3 additional moves allowed. Keep in mind, bankai/RSE will increase your physical fighting stats such as speed, strength, and endurance. Now, for hollows: You must be ranked Espada 4 or higher to have a Segunda Etapa.

Another footnote, you May Not have an arrancar of espada-strength without actually being an espada.



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Thanks go out to Cell Phone, Key Chain, Yuu, and Yaku for allowing me to use them as examples. Not that they had any choice in the matter *cough*

These Guidelines are subject to change