POST HEADERS
It's important to remember how to label your posts. Each post must have the following information at the top - the "Header". An improperly labeled post may be returned to the author for correction at the discretion of the GM.
- Title: The title of your episode. Use the word 'Title', not 'Serenity Episode' or anything else, and do not use quotes around the title.
- Author: Your character's rank and full name. Do not use 'Authors' plural. This should be the primary point-of-view character, not a list of everyone in the post.
- Earthdate: The date your episode takes place, not the date you're writing it. Spell it out in full.
- Location: The post's starting location, not a run-down of everywhere you go during the episode.
Here's a properly-formatted example:
Title: Shut That Hatch!
Author: Captain James Kirk
Earthdate: July 11, 2268
Location: Outside cargo holds, K-7
PARAGRAPHS AND BREAKS
It is much easier to follow block format. That is, when you end a paragraph, hit the RETURN key twice, then begin the next paragraph.
Do not indent your paragraphs!
For example:
Incorrect:
The landing party beamed down to the unexplored planet. Spock began scanning with his tricorder while Dr. McCoy mumbled something under his breath that no one else could quite catch.
Kirk set his phaser on 'kill' and ordered the security guard into motion. "Ensign Redshirt. Go scout around those dangerous-looking cliffs there."
"Aye-aye sir," Ensign Redshirt replied, and started off in the direction his captain had indicated, oblivious to what was about to happen to him....Correct!
The landing party beamed down to the unexplored planet. Spock began scanning with his tricorder while Dr. McCoy mumbled something under his breath that no one else could quite catch.
Kirk set his phaser on 'kill' and ordered the security guard into motion. "Ensign Redshirt. Go scout around those dangerous-looking cliffs there."
"Aye-aye sir," Ensign Redshirt replied, and started off in the direction his captain had indicated, oblivious to what was about to happen to him....
NARRATIVE STYLE
Posting should be done in the 'third-person omniscient narrative' voice, in the past tense. For example:
Incorrect. This is written like a TV script...
Kirk : Enters the rec-room and sees Scotty reading a technical manual. He says, "Don't you ever relax Scotty?"
Scotty : Looks surprised at Kirk's comment and says, "I *am* relaxing, sir!"
Incorrect. This is in the present tense...
Kirk enters the rec-room and notices Scotty reading another technical manual. He says to Scotty, "Don't you ever relax?"
Scotty looks at Kirk with a surprised expression and replies, "I *am* relaxing, sir!"
Incorrect. This is in first-person form...
I entered the room and noticed Scotty reading another technical manual. I said to him, "Scotty, don't you ever relax?"
Scotty looked surprised, and said to me, "I *am* relaxing, sir!"
Correct! This is written in third-person past tense...
Kirk entered the rec-room and noticed Scotty reading another technical manual. He said to Scotty, "Don't you ever relax?"
Scotty looked at Kirk with a surprised expression and replied, "I *am* relaxing, sir!"
ITALICS
You may want to italicise certain words or phrases in your logs. Ship names are usually written in italics, as are things that a character is thinking to himself, or words that just need to be stressed. To make a word appear in italics font, enclose it in asterisks like *this*. This is for the benefit of those of us who can receive only plain text email.
Example 1 - Ship Name
The *USS Enterprise* assumed standard orbit around the red planet.
Example 2 - Thoughts
As he passed the new yeoman in the corridor, Kirk thought, *Wow! She's pretty cute.*
Example 3 - Stress
"Do *not* feed the tribbles anymore!" admonished Dr. McCoy.
SPELLING
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check your spelling. That is one thing that can easily be done by you. Your fellow players will thank you. If your spelling and grammar are bad, they will curse your name until the end of eternity. Modern word processors make the job of spell-checking, and even grammar-checking very easy.
KILLING AND HARMING POLICY
Killing PCs
You can't kill off any other player's character. Period. If you do so without the soon-to-be-dead character's consent, your episode will be rejected.
Follow the Golden Rule: "Treat other players' characters as you would have them treat yours." Treat them kindly. You can't kill them. You can't maim them. Don't write them 'out of character', doing things they wouldn't normally do. If you're not sure, email the other player or the GM and ask! Many of your fellow players would probably be willing to do a joint post with you.
Killing NPCs
You may kill off and cause harm to as many NPCs as necessary for the story.
Character Killing by the GM
The killing of characters usually is reserved for the COs, but can be done only after being given permission to do so, or in the case that a player has abandoned the game and has been given ample opportunity to recover his character.
RELATIONS POLICY
Relationships between the players are important in a RPG. If you wish to start a relationship, email the other character's player if you have their email address, or your CO if you don't. The CO will ask the other player if they wish to give you their email. Then, you may speak freely and privately.
CONTROVERCIAL POSTS
If you want to write something of a highly controversial nature about someone else's character, please contact them about it first to discuss the idea and get their consent. If you cannot contact them for some reason, ask your CO to contact them for you. People work very hard at building their characters up, and no one wants their character's image destroyed or irreversibly damaged by just one post written in blissful negligence by some other player.
PLOT TWIST POSTS
Posts that irreversibly change the very nature of the Serenity game or make changes to the setting that will affect other players should be discussed with your GM beforehand.
This is not to say that you shouldn't suggest story ideas to your GM. He's always grateful for any story input from the players. It is entirely possible that your story idea can be adopted.
FOOTERS
If you wish to place any footers with personal information or a personal message at the bottom of posts, please, feel free. They may include: messages to the crew, contact information, a small quote, etc. Just make sure you separate it from the main body of the post with a line or other separator or in "<<< . . . >>>", labeling it as "OOC" (Out Of Character).
For example:
<<< OOC: Hey everyone! This is a footer. >>>
CONTENT
Serenity is rated PG-13, which means that certain things aren't acceptable:
- No pornography. Erotic language and overt sexual scenes are not allowed.
- No excessive profanity. Mild profanity is allowed when the circumstance permit it.
- No racism or discrimination or any kind of prejudicial behavior (unless it has something to do with the story and will not cause any damage to any players but your own or any consenting characters).
- No graphic violence or torture/sadism.
- No demonism/witchcraft or overt use of the occult.
EMAIL ADDRESS
You must maintain a valid email address. The "play-by-email" type game is dependent upon email addresses. If you fail to have a valid account somewhere, i.e. yourname@excite.com, yourname@hotmail.com, etc., then you will not receive any posts or other important game-related information. Please maintain an account.