Roleplay Guide
In this guide, you will find information to help you with getting to grips with Roleplaying on our server. This includes how we define roleplay, how characters progress in our world and systems, various common information that most characters will have access to, and the way of thinking our medieval-inspired society would adhere to that all characters, both non-player and player, would be influenced by.
If you find yourself not understanding something in this guide, or just have any questions, the server staff is always willing to take questions and answer them to the best of our ability, either through direct messages or using the appropriate channels in our Discord server.
Definitions / Roleplaying Terms
IC = In-Character. This pertains to the actions of your character within the world, as opposed to your own actions in real life.
OoC = Out of Character. This is used to describe whatever is outside of the server or your own characters. Similarly, to convey something OoC is often either written in the OoC chat, or written in a way that clearly conveys that what you are saying is separate to what your character is saying. Writing in double brackets – ((This is OoC)) – is a common method for this.
Metagaming = Having your character know or make use of knowledge that they would not realistically have. An example of this is addressing a character by their name, despite having never heard it or met them, simply because you (the player) see their name in the chat. Similarly, your character cannot suddenly ‘know’ things unless it is common knowledge shared by many characters simply because you were told something out of character.
Powergaming = Acting in a way your character would not realistically be able to. An example of this would be using restrictive writing that gives your character a clear advantage (e.g. ‘Dave stabs and kills Bob’ without giving an opponent a chance to react), or having your character perform feats they realistically would be unable to do, such as dodging a hail of arrows without any form of shield or other means of deflecting them.
Rollplay vs Roleplay
The Realm of Saphriel is a roleplay server rather than a ‘rollplay’ server. What this means is that actions, combat, interactions, and challenges are done through text-based descriptions by our players and staff, rather than all combat or challenges being decided purely on dice rolls and luck. While there are plenty of instances of rolls needing to be involved both in and out of combat, these are only in place to support the described actions of the players and the characters they are playing. Actions and conscious choices by characters will come first, and situations requiring rolls can often be influenced, mitigated, or avoided entirely with the help of items and careful decisions. Luck can come into play, but Saphriel most often rewards good planning, preparation, and teamwork.
For this reason, you should always be aware of your character’s limitations and abilities, whether in combat or performing seemingly mundane tasks. If you find your character in combat with another player, communicate with one another before going to staff. If an action or attack seems unclear, ask them to elaborate. Of course, do this within reason; if your character realistically wouldn’t know something, don’t resort to trying to get an answer out of character unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Character Progression & Skills
All characters begin at a similar level with detail in the character application providing a small starting point advantage against those without depending on the character’s backstory. This can only provide them with the basics; beginning in smithing, a standard understanding of weaponry and their uses, or time period appropriate medical knowledge and skills. No one can apply as a master in anything, and to improve further they must roleplay, interact and hone those skills. A player isn’t expected to know what their character does on an OOC level – we don’t expect smith characters to provide a comprehensive explanation of medieval smithing processes for every item they make, for example – but we do expect players to at least give a basic explanation of the roleplay done. If there are any questions on various skills, players are always encouraged to seek out staff for an answer or further explanation.
Common In-Character Information
Below are commonly known things by the vast majority of characters both player and non-player, locations that are dangerous or significant individuals like Scribes and Guild leaders, and the timescale that the server runs on, useful for both a more OOC standpoint and one that a character would know ICly, living in the world as they do.
Locations of the World:
Saphriel is home to many, many distinct regions, some peaceful and pleasant while many are extremely hostile even to their natives. From the great and deadly desert to the east, the frozen and dark Bleaklands to the north east, and the various forests such as Manadh Calad and Pine Valley, there are many locations that guarantee danger or even death to the unprepared. To find out more about these specific locations, the Traveler’s Guide.
Figures of Saphriel:
Those of the Kingdom of Saphriel know very well the various important figures, the various scribes who create and accept payment for permits and wills, the Peoples’ Council who directly work with the ruling individuals of the kingdom on important matters that are brought to them, and finally the guilds and their leaders. There are many Guilds, with each specifically overseeing, commanding or teaching and advising in their respective fields, areas of expertise or influence. Looking for a Permit? and Kingdom Figures & Guilds are IC postings which list information on all these groups and other relative information.
Timescale of Saphriel:
The time of Saphriel is relatively simple to follow at its most basic. Each OOC day represents an IC week of time that has passed, each OOC week in turn is 1 IC month. This means that every 3 OOC months will roughly make up a full IC year, and each OOC year has 4 IC years within it.
Our in-game day-night cycle reflects this as well, with 3 OOC hours reflecting 1 IC day of passage which we base many of our active systems upon. The day will always be the day and the night always the night, excluding certain instances of events and combat or localized roleplay where the time taken to write posts and complete turn order would be longer than the day cycle. As a general rule, however, the time is what the time is in-game.
The Medieval Mind
While we are a fantasy roleplay server we are also based in a medieval setting, and it can often be difficult for more modern thinking to set itself back to centuries in the past. Some odd concepts will make their way through, some of which may be expected while others may be more obscure or based on the server’s own unique setting and culture.
The post Welcome to the Dark Ages covers these basic concepts and topics of Medieval society’s structure, rule of law, faith and many other ideas that you should keep in mind while playing in our setting. Most NPC’s will follow these common beliefs and ideals. While player characters can deviate from the norm, you should be able to explain why and how they think the way they do, especially if it is significantly different to the overwhelming majority of thought around them.
It should also be noted that despite many common beliefs inspired by medieval practises, cultural norms differ from culture to culture. While a unified Kingdom of Saphriel and many races working together after the Pact War have muted their differences to a degree, each race will have unique beliefs on many subjects, such as clothing, formalities, religious practises, and other seemingly minor areas. A handshake might be considered a common greeting among humans, for example, but among Elves it would be considered a social faux pas that very few are likely to offer or accept. Cultural differences can be especially pronounced among more traditional characters or aspects of their societies, such as their nobility. If you’re uncertain of the specifics of how your character might think regarding a certain topic and the guides linked don’t cover it, feel free to ask staff and they should be able to answer any questions you have.