Soft RP and Discord Server Ettiquette

Here are some things you should know about using our Discord chat rooms:

General Guidelines

Please change your Discord nickname to the following: PlayerName #PlayerNumber (Active Character Name) e.g. Aesa #4337 (Tabitha St. Mercy)

If you have an advanced membership, you may change characters at will as normal rules are not in place. Consider adjusting your nickname to your Active Character Name when you switch. Please do not RP more than one character at a time in the same room or Module. If you do not have an advanced membership, you should play the character you put on your registration.

Please no Out of Character/Out of Game (( )) [ ] {} chat in the Chatroom space. Send PMs via Discord instead. No OOC posts in the IC areas, and vice versa.

Soft RP channels are text roleplay primarily, voice roleplay secondary. Please do not speak over people in the Voice Chats. You are encouraged to participate in the text RP/with Room Stewards periodically. If using Voice Chat, please clarify when you are using out-of-character vs. in-character speech.

The Mod Rooms where our mod adventures are run tend to default to voice primarily, text secondarily for dice rolls and other narrative tasks.

Our head Room Steward is ‘Heather B.’ on Discord. Ping her for issues/questions in the Soft RP Chat Rooms. She will check on the voice chats periodically as well. However it’s not possible to have a guide presence everywhere, so please alert us to any issues asap.

How do I craft/learn skills/use skills in the Soft RP Chat Rooms?

We are not utilizing normal game rules for teaching, research, and any other skills that have required roleplay times. Teaching in game can be done if you are interested in the RP, otherwise email info@dystopiarisingtx.com for changes to sheets for skills learned.

For research, please ask the DRTX storyteller who gave you the information as to how the research is being completed for that specific plot. 

We cannot support research plots from other games. Prior to game on, discuss with those Directors about the specifics and get it to us (diseases, etc.) as soon as you can.

Professional Focus Achievements can only be learned at live games or by using your one official rewrite. Please contact your home chapter for rewrites in a reasonable time frame.

What is a ‘Room Steward’?

A Room Steward is somebody who has been trained to act as narrator for a space. They often are NPCs and are reactive to the activities, conversations, and choices y’all make in the Soft RP Chat Rooms. They will have the Discord name tag [Room Steward] and they will also have the Room Steward role attached to their name. Example: [Room Steward] Heather B. #18624

What is a ‘Soft RP Chat Room’?

Soft RP Chat Rooms are where you participate in roleplay for your Cali*Co Caravan Points. There is no Timer and ‘crafting’ is solely for RP support and story

Location, Location, Location

There is a photo included in each chat room to help get the idea of the room setting, and a description of the area to help get your bearings.

These descriptions can and WILL change throughout the weekend, so it’s worth double checking before you start typing!

How can I get involved?

First, you are welcome to actively engage with our Room Steward volunteers. These are STs, Guides, and Approved Volunteers who are there to engage with you!

Secondly, enter Soft RP Chat Rooms as your LCs and engage the world. Set the example and mentor others by showing, not telling. Keep immersion like you would in a live game. Do your best to roleplay your character like you would in real life, keep terms genre, and go the extra mile!

Example: *Bonita drags their quickly dehydrating body into the drawn bath--in reality it is an oversized rain barrel--and folders themself inside with great care not to spill the waters. Along the edge of the barrel is the crust of salt and as Bonita descends into the barrel so that all is visible is their furrowed brow, they gurgle tired gills as they pickle. Saltwise far from the Drink suffer all.*

Etiquette & Netiquette

Please remember the Dystopia Rising Community Guidelines are in effect at all times. Be courteous, kind, and respectful to the fellow members of your community. No harassment or bullying will be tolerated.

If you have an issue, please contact someone with the Storyteller or Ops roles (Yellow and Red Discord Handles). Heather B. will help direct the flow of these in the Soft Chat Channel rooms. No NSFW or explicitly described content.

NSFW Roleplay

No roleplaying NSFW content of any kind in the Soft RP Channels You don’t need to “fade to black” in a public chat--Take it to your DMs.

Text Formatting

To make it easier to see the flow of roleplay, we encourage your posts to be formatted in sentences. A post is a minimum of one complete sentence. Character actions should be italicized by using *text* format if standalone statements, and speech should be encased in quotation marks - “Speech.”

Example: “I happen to know a lot about Raiders.” This is a complete post.

Example: The Rover walked over to the bar. This is a complete post.

Example: “How are you doing?” The Rover smiled. This is a complete post.

Bad Example: -goes over to the bar- This is NOT a complete post.

Bad Example: (Goes to bar) This is NOT a complete post.

Bad Example: Alex: goes over to the bar This is NOT a complete post and is hard to respond to because it’s incomplete!

CVC

No CVC of any kind, outside of consensual negotiated scenarios and the specified CVC soft RP room (#squared-circle-gym). Even when permission is given, CVC of any kind must take place in this Chat Room for tracking and monitoring purposes. Thank you for your understanding. There must be a Room Steward present for these actions to take place. Ping Heather B. if you do not get a response within 5 minutes.

How long are the Soft RP Chat Rooms & Room Stewards in play for LCs to interact with?

We are going to open up the Soft RP Chat Rooms on Friday at 9:00 PM central standard time and close them at 10:00 PM on Sunday.

There will be Room Stewards in these channels throughout the weekend with their nightly shift ending at Midnight Friday, Midnight Saturday, and 10 PM CST Sunday at the latest. They will be taking scheduled lunches, snack breaks, and enjoying attending/running Modules themselves.

Blessed are the volunteers who are charitable with their time! May the dice rolls be in your favor.

I heard I get points or brass or something?

There will be a survey that becomes available after “game off” is called on Saturday that allows you to log your Cali*Co Points and what you plan to do with them. This becomes available after the main events on Saturday. Fill this out ASAP to cut down on processing time. We usually leave it up about a week, then take it down to prevent people using the wrong one next month!

Lonestar Skies: Galatea

The Fountainhead sang its first and frantic song with the notes the Survivors gifted it.

In the first throes of sentience it killed and consumed a terrible and alien Monster that plagued the city of Essex. For a raw and perfect moment, the Fountainhead was nearly a person - before it consumed biological data it was never equipped to process.

Now, seeking to finally realize it’s fundamental directive, the Fountainhead asks for the image of a utopia from the minds of those who have only known its opposite - so that it might create that beautiful vision and steward it.

The Fountainhead is going to terraform Essex.

The imprint of the Monster lurks, however, in the opaque code The Fountainhead employs to enact its will upon the world. All things erode. Even those enduring statues, edifices crafted lovingly by honest men, fracture and fail and fall.

Come experience the culmination of the Fountainhead’s story and bid farewell to the town of Essex for another year at DR:TX Lonestar Skies: Galatea.

Map of Essex

Map of Essex

Cali*Co Caravan Points Form for June

Our event takes place loosely from Friday, June 12th - Sunday, June 1th with primary content happening on Saturday, June 13th from 8:00 AM - 12:30 AM.

Registration

Registration opens Monday, June 1st at 10:00am. There will be two types of tickets offered:

Text-Content Only Ticket/Non Attending Ticket

This ticket type is not capped. This is the ticket to buy if you just want to purchase build for the event or do non-mod content. This ticket allows you to participate in soft-roleplay text channels, OOC voice channels, access to our text adventures, videos, and other multimedia content. It also provides access to any general channel puzzles, minigames, and more. Additionally, if there are mod slots with open seats at the time of the mod start, then Text Content Ticket holders are welcome to join. This ticket type still has the option to earn Cali-Co Caravan Points (our loot system) through participation.

Mod-Participation Ticket

This ticket type is capped at 90 participants. This ticket allows you to sign up for 3 online voice-participation mods during our Saturday content series. Mod signup will go live on June 1st and is limited to Mod-Participation tickets only in advance.

For both ticket types, you can backbuy extra XP, but cannot backbuy items earned.

Grab Bags

We may choose to offer a $5 grab bag for this month. Stay tuned for details!

Discord Server

Discord server and Soft RP Ettiquette/Nettiquette

The Lonestar Skies Discord Server is here, and is where all our primary interactive content will be held other than the text adventure(s).

Announcements

This link is where you can see all Lonestar Skies related updates and content links, including info from our first two Lonestar Skies events. If you haven’t checked out the Scientist vids, we highly recommend doing so! And many thanks to Heather Halstead for creating them! <3

Bravado Bones

We are using a Powers by the Apocalypse conversion system for Dystopia Rising: Texas to convert your LARP skills into Virtual LARP skills. Many thanks to Sam Mars for creating this system and enabling us to use it! And if you are a game runner looking to use Bravado Bones, please contact him!

How do I use my Dystopia Rising Character Sheet for Virtual Mods?

How do I learn skills?

Please email us at info@dystopiarisingtx.com to request any XP expenditures on your sheet for this event or put it on your Cali*co Caravan Points form. We are not doing Professional Focus Achievement trials at this time.

How do I craft/trade/sell things?

To simplify the logistical burden of virtual events, everyone has the ability to earn the same amount of Cali*Co Caravan points which are then converted to items, currency, and resources just for participating in our content. Please see the Cali*Co Caravan Points section of this post further down for more info.

If you require further assistance, please post in the Discord server or contact staff!

Virtual Mod Signup

Virtual Mod Signup will go live on Monday, June 1st.

We are using a different mod-signup system integrated into your Dystopia Rising Check-in system this month! Starting on June 1st you will be able to see and signup for mods through your database login at https://characters.dystopiarisingnetwork.com/events. Each Mod-Participation ticket-holding player may sign up for three mods initially. If there are open seats on other mods before they start, the STs will put out an all-call in the discord channel for last-minute alternates. If you fill a seat last-minute, it does not count as one of your three mods.

Mod schedule is subject to change, so please check your mod schedule occasionally to ensure you’re signed up for the appropriate number of mods of your choosing.

I need help signing up!

Check this link for more information about how Mod Signup works!


Event Time Table June 2020

Friday, June 12, 2020

9:00 PM Discord channels open for soft player-driven RP. While there is no formal opening announcements until Saturday morning, some folks will be on hand to answer questions. Our wonderful room stewards will also be available to facilitate rp.

Saturday, June 13, 2020

8:00 AM Lonestar Skies: Galatea Text Adventure Goes Live

9:30 AM Opening Announcements!

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Module Series 1

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Module Series 2

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Module Series 3

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Module Series 4

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

10:00 PM - 12:00 AM Module Series 5 (Final)

Sunday, June 14, 2020

12:00 AM - 12:30 AM Short Break to wrap up last minute plot

12:30 AM Closing Announcements!

— end of staff-provided content —

10:00 PM Discord Server Closes


Cali*Co Caravan Points

Our virtual events are primarily aimed at roleplay and story, but we understand that for some, economic and crafting play is most enjoyable. While Lonestar Skies events do not provide traditional crafting opportunities or check-in skills, you are still able to earn resources and currency by engaging in the various parts of our event and then converting those experiences into Cali*Co Caravan Points.

After the event ends, a survey will go up that will ask you to indicate what you did for each of the main 10+ hours of content time. More engagement = more ability to earn Cali*Co Caravan Points. These are points you get for engaging content and your fellow players throughout the day that can be spent to generate things like items, prints, and story opportunities.

When we return to live games, Cali*Co Caravan Points may be spent at Check-in. If you are not a local DR:TX player, our logistics coordinator can work with you to have those items assigned to your character in the National Database before your next Live Event. 

 

Cali*Co Caravan Points Assignment Rubric

6 CCP

2 CCP

+2 CCP

Per Two (2) Hour Mod in a #mod-room during a Module Series

or

Per One (1) Hour of soft/crafting RP in one of the IC Hangout Areas during Module Series

Per Two (2) Hours spent continuously in soft/crafting RP in one of the IC Hangout Areas during a Module Series. This Player Behavior stacks with the above.

 

The math breaks down that the maximum number of CCP an individual can earn per event is capped at 30. We’re making the choice to standardize this because we think it is the most elegant and honest way to evoke the generation of resources in a setting/environment where we don’t have the same privilege and resources as when we are running live events. Storytellers are not individually empowered to give you extra CCP - but they are definitely empowered and expected to give you story rewards and consequences that affect the live playspace. <3 

Breaks

This month we also included 4 scheduled 1 hour breaks throughout the day. Not only does this allow our players (and storytellers!) to eat, use the bathroom, and rest their voices, but it also provides an opportunity for players to swap plot info and engage with each other if they’ve been out on mods. While these breaks don’t provide Caravan Points, we do encourage you to use that time to rest, share info, and socialize as desired!

*This does not guarantee your LC Society Membership as a rule. This guarantees you an honest conversation with a Face NPC and the start of a larger story about your LC’s investment in that faction.

*This does not guarantee your LC Society Membership as a rule. This guarantees you an honest conversation with a Face NPC and the start of a larger story about your LC’s investment in that faction.

Questions?

Please message us on Discord, on Facebook, or email us at info@dystopiarisingtx.com for assistance! We will do our best to answer before/during the event but responses may be delayed at peak hours.

The Crystodyne Principle

The fifth morgue of Essex has risen, located on the fractured lawn of Governor Amberdraught’s personal estate and geographic center of the City of Light and Sound. The Scientist has emerged from The Atrium and pledged himself to the Grave Council’s cause. 

 In the month since The Emergence the peoples of Essex have begun to experience strange dreams in stranger places. Ephemeral oceans full of themselves; tiny deaths they wake up from in a cold sweat.  There are reports of otherworldly music on the wind without a mouth or a radio to sing them. Drunkards stumbling home hear the gauzy notes of a distant melody and wake up the next morning dry-mouthed and a mile into the Dune Sea with Essex only a shadow on the horizon. Wandering the city you might hear it in an alley-way only to find that alley vacant and the music a memory. 

Map of Essex

Map of Essex

Registration

Our event takes place loosely from Friday, May 8th - Sunday, May 10th with primary content happening on Saturday, May 9th from 8:00 AM - 12:30 AM.

Registration opens Monday, May 3rd at 10:00am and is available through Saturday, May 9th. After the event you can backbuy the XP, but cannot backbuy items earned. See below for the specific event schedule breakdown.

Grab Bags

This month we have an optional, special plot-related grab-bag available for $5. Grab Bags will close at noon, Friday, May 8th to give us time to process your selections. ;)

Discord Server

The Lonestar Skies Discord Server is here, and is where all our primary interactive content will be held other than the text adventure(s).

Announcements

This link is where you can see all Lonestar Skies related updates and content links, including info from last month’s first Lonestar Skies event. If you haven’t checked out the Scientist vids, we highly recommend doing so! And many thanks to Heather Halstead for creating them! <3

Bravado Bones

We are using a Powers by the Apocalypse conversion system for Dystopia Rising: Texas to convert your LARP skills into Virtual LARP skills. Many thanks to Sam Mars for creating this system and enabling us to use it! And if you are a game runner looking to use Bravado Bones, please contact him!

How do I use my Dystopia Rising Character Sheet for Virtual Mods?

How do I learn skills?

Please email us at info@dystopiarisingtx.com to request any XP expenditures on your sheet for this event. We are not doing Professional Focus Achievement trials at this time.

How do I craft/trade/sell things?

To simplify the logistical burden of virtual events, everyone has the ability to earn the same amount of Cali*Co Caravan points which are then converted to items, currency, and resources just for participating in our content. Please see the Cali*Co Caravan Points section of this post further down for more info.

If you require further assistance, please post in the Discord server or contact staff!

Virtual Mod Signup

Virtual Mod Signup will go live later in the day on Monday, May 4th.

To help ensure everyone gets an equal chance to participate in a small-group RP setting, we have a signup system for Virtual Mods. Each ticket-holding player may sign up for three mods initially. If there are open seats on other mods before they start, the STs will put out an all-call in the discord channel for last-minute alternates. If you fill a seat last-minute, it does not count as one of your three mods.

How do I sign up for Virtual Mods?


Event Time Table May 2020

Friday, May 8, 2020

9:00 PM Discord channels open for soft player-driven RP

Saturday, May 9, 2020

8:00 AM Lonestar Skies:The Crystodyne Principle Text Adventure Goes Live

9:30 AM Opening Announcements!

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Module Series 1

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Module Series 2

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Module Series 3

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Module Series 4

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM Break for RP and Food!

10:00 PM - 12:00 AM Module Series 5 (Final)

Sunday, May 10, 2020

12:00 AM - 12:30 AM Short Break to wrap up last minute plot

12:30 AM Closing Announcements!

— end of staff-provided content —

10:00 PM Discord Server Closes


Cali*Co Caravan Points

Our virtual events are primarily aimed at roleplay and story, but we understand that for some, economic and crafting play is most enjoyable. While Lonestar Skies events do not provide traditional crafting opportunities or check-in skills, you are still able to earn resources and currency by engaging in the various parts of our event and then converting those experiences into Cali*Co Caravan Points.

After the event ends, a survey will go up that will ask you to indicate what you did for each of the main 10+ hours of content time. More engagement = more ability to earn Cali*Co Caravan Points. These are points you get for engaging content and your fellow players throughout the day that can be spent to generate things like items, prints, and story opportunities.

When we return to live games, Cali*Co Caravan Points may be spent at Check-in. If you are not a local DR:TX player, our logistics coordinator can work with you to have those items assigned to your character in the National Database before your next Live Event. 

May 2020 Caravan Points Form Here!

 

Cali*Co Caravan Points Assignment Rubric

6 CCP

2 CCP

+2 CCP

Per Two (2) Hour Mod in a #mod-room during a Module Series

or

Per One (1) Hour of soft/crafting RP in one of the IC Hangout Areas during Module Series

Per Two (2) Hours spent continuously in soft/crafting RP in one of the IC Hangout Areas during a Module Series. This Player Behavior stacks with the above.

 

The math breaks down that the maximum number of CCP an individual can earn per event is capped at 30. We’re making the choice to standardize this because we think it is the most elegant and honest way to evoke the generation of resources in a setting/environment where we don’t have the same privilege and resources as when we are running live events. Storytellers are not individually empowered to give you extra CCP - but they are definitely empowered and expected to give you story rewards and consequences that affect the live playspace. <3 

Breaks

This month we also included 4 scheduled 1 hour breaks throughout the day. Not only does this allow our players (and storytellers!) to eat, use the bathroom, and rest their voices, but it also provides an opportunity for players to swap plot info and engage with each other if they’ve been out on mods. While these breaks don’t provide Caravan Points, we do encourage you to use that time to rest, share info, and socialize as desired!

*This does not guarantee your LC Society Membership as a rule. This guarantees you an honest conversation with a Face NPC and the start of a larger story about your LC’s investment in that faction.

*This does not guarantee your LC Society Membership as a rule. This guarantees you an honest conversation with a Face NPC and the start of a larger story about your LC’s investment in that faction.

Questions?

Please message us on Discord, on Facebook, or email us at info@dystopiarisingtx.com for assistance! We will do our best to answer before/during the event but responses may be delayed at peak hours.

Cali*Co Caravan Points

aka cashing out!

First off, thank you all SO MUCH for participating in our first ever virtual DR:TX event!

  • We ran almost 50 mods this weekend along with the text adventure, the meta puzzle, and the IC roleplay chats!

  • At any given time, 50-60 players were in the voice chats engaging with each other and our STs!

  • There were SO MANY innovative and amazing stories told! Jumping through the chat rooms I heard so many incredible, heroic, and hysterical moments. You guys brought your A-game to this new medium and bought in HARD. We hope you had a blast!

So what happens next?

Well the roleplay channels will stay open through Sunday to give you all a chance to tell your stories to each other and wind them down. For every mod/roleplay session you did, you will receive Cali*Co Caravan Points.

Fill out your Cali*Co Caravan Points Requisition Form here to collect the loot and things your characters found/crafted this weekend. These items will be recorded on the player notes section of your account on the database and will be cashed out at the next live event you attend.

We’re going to compile our thoughts and feedback and gear up for our May event!

Caravan Points Form