User:Quintus

Player Policies and Preferences

This section details information on my particular (some may say peculiar) style of roleplaying. Some bullet points are as follows:

• I don't use +taskrolls or other dice mechanics
• I take about 10 minutes to send, give or take 5 minutes
• I write in the close third person, with character thoughts
• I write exclusively in the past tense

My Characteristics

Narrative Style:

With regard to my manner of my writing, I am very, very deliberate in my character sends. These may be multi-paragraph passages in the close third person viewpoint and, contrary to what may be custom, written in the past tense. It is also common for me to interject my character's private thoughts and feelings into my sends. Consequent to my narrative style, I have tendency to write slowly compared to what some may be accustomed to. On average I spend about ten minutes writing a send, with a standard deviation of five minutes. If I'm writing a scene set, I may take longer.

Wall of Text:

Sometimes when I am hosting a scene I may write text in advance, particularly to establish settings and cover key plot points. Thus my scenes have a potentially scripted feel to them. Some have expressed to me that being in one of these scenes feels akin to being an actor in a movie. Moreover, be advised that these passages may be -very- long. If you're not accustomed to playing with me and find yourself face to face with the Wall of Text, please don't fret, it's just a set piece and not an example of my typical, every-day performance. Oft times I will post scene descriptions to a chalkboard object that people my view at their leisure.

@descing:

In spite of my penchant for detailed writing, I do not @desc. When you "look" at my character, you will see only a generic description of what he might look like at a given time. That I have no articles of clothing detailed in my character @desc is not an indication of nudity. If it is important that you be aware of what my character is wearing, please feel free to page me and I will let you know.

Pose Order:

If I am in a scene involving more than four players I will support the venerated "three pose" rule where by a person may contribute a send to the scene if at least three other players have since made their own contribution. In large scenes, particularly with others who write as slowly as myself, this pretty much becomes a necessity to keep up the pace of play.

Multi-scening:

I never, ever multi-scene and I am very conscious of others who do. If you're playing with me then you're getting my full attention. When I feel that the people I am involved in a scene with a player who is distracted, particularly in small scenes or those where turn order is enforced, then it diminished my satisfaction of the game. This makes me less apt to want to play with that person in the future. If you are simultaneously playing multiple characters or are facing other distractions, please be upfront about it with me so that we may decide together how to pursue the scene. I will show you the same courtesy.

Communication:

If you ever find yourself playing with me or embroiled in one of my plots, but for whatever reason feel uncomfortable participating or note something that bothers you, please don't hesitate to let me know and I will be happy to work out some kind of resolution or extrication with you. No hard feelings, no grudges, no passing of judgement. I work very hard at trying to please some people all of the time, so I wholly respect the fact that I won't please everyone any of the time.

Plot Hosting and GMing

When it comes to hosting plots and scenes, my style and flair for GMing extremes to one end of the roleplaying spectrum. I'm a freestyle roleplayer, which when ground down to practical terms translates to: more verbiage, fewer dice. If I'm hosting a scene then you can be fairly confident of two things: A) I won't be asking anybody to make taskrolls, except in PvP situations, and B) you're going to get a lot of practice reading.

The way I run scenes is like so: I as the GM will present the players with a vignette, or scenario of the situation, the environment, and what is occurring within it. Then each player in turn will have the opportunity to write a send explaining how their character interacts with this scenario. Players won't write the result of their character actions, just their initiation. Once all the active players have had the opportunity to contribute, I will write a send explaining the result of everyone's sends and how the situation (i.e. antagonists) responds. The cycle thus ensues until the scene concludes or, more likely, we pause because it's become so gosh darned late in the evening it hurts to keep my eyes open.

This manner of hosting extends to combat scenes. Although I have not yet worked out a method of resolving combat in Serenity MUSH that I find totally satisfactory, I use the above system as a basic framework. I may ask players to submit an +attack or +taskroll; however, I use the results as guidelines rather than a finite determination of success. Likewise, damage is inflicted on characters at the discretion of their players, though I strongly advise players to be reasonable and creative in their performances and avoid falling into the trap of playing super-hero-like "god characters".

I try to create a roleplaying environment that players find is safe to play in as well as explore. I hope to encourage creativity and imagination. I understand though that many players may find this manner of play staid and boring, or that it might simply not offer the kind of seek from roleplay. Furthermore, this system requires a great deal of trust in my capability and integrity to serve as GM. For the sake of drama you can fully expect that I will be putting your characters in difficult and uncomfortable situations so it is imperative that you bear some degree of faith in myself as a storyteller.

Sometimes plots, or even individuals scenes, can run on for extended periods of time, continued sporadically according to the availability of the players involved. Since I have no desire to hold player's characters hostage, I operate according to a liberal policy that has been coined "alternate timeline". What this means is that I usually will bend the rules of time to permit characters to engage their character with the grid at large even if that character is currently involved in one of my ongoing plots. In other words, players are free to go about and play freely during plot downtime and then return to play as if never having left the scene.

In most circumstances, this works well enough though an exception has to be made if a character imminently faces long term, debilitating circumstances, such as being held prisoner, serious injury, or the rare eventuality of death. I will give players advance warning before their characters reach a point by which this exception is exercised so that they may have the opportunity to extricate themselves.

Characters

This section provides an overview of the characters I play on Serenity MUSH.

Primary Characters (PCs)

This is a list of my primary characters on Serenity MUSH. At present I play only one such character and maintain no 'alts'.

• Lt. the Honbl. Quintus Aemilius Yee

Affiliation: Blue Sun, Noble / Gens Aemilius
Description: A man of honour in a den of thieves. The black sheep of his family, Quintus has left the comfort and security of his noble background to establish a life for himself. Now working for major economic interests of the Core, including Blue Sun, he serves as a roving emmisary, his mild manners putting a pleasant face on the sometimes unpleasant business of commerce.

Secondary Characters (NPCs)

In addition to my primary characters, I also perform the roles of a series of secondary characters to expand on roleplaying opportunities and fill in certain niches. If anyone is interested in playing a scene with one of these characters, feel free to contact me and such can be arranged. To avoid confusion on the grid, though, the participation of secondary characters is restricted to private scenes or scheduled events.

• Miss. Nancy O'Brien

Affiliation: Blue Sun
Description: Quintus' personal assistant. I often use Nancy in +waves as a communications go-between when Quintus is ICly unavailable or simply bring her out as a catch-all paper-pusher in generic scenes at the Blue Sun building on Persephone. She is very professional and does a good job of keeping Quintus' schedule and files in order though she tends to be stand-offish in fulfilling her role as his gatekeeper.

• Agent Randy leBlanc

Affiliation: Blue Sun
Description: Blue Sun Agent and security chief of the Persephone office. Gruff and burly, leBlanc looks like an ex-(American)-Football player with his broad shoulders and thick neck, ready to pounce on anybody who gives him trouble. I frequently bring him into Blue Sun scenes that require either a security or investigative role that would render the more debonair Quintus an inappropriate choice.

• Rufus Wainwright, M.D.

Affiliation: Medical Wellness Center
Description: Wainwright was created in a pinch during a busy scene at the MWC when no PC doctors were available to participate. Though I've since relinquished creative development and use to the MWC, in my mind he was designed to be shallow, selfish caricature of Soap Opera doctors. I might reprise the role if a need ever arises and Wainwright remains for me a solid link to the delightfully fun folks over at the MWC.

Aemilia Yee

• Lady Aemilia Yee

Affiliation: Noble / Gens Aemilius
Description: Quintus' younger sister, I use her as an alternative to Quintus at noble functions when he is otherwise ICly unavailable to attend. A consummate socialite, her time is devoted to dining with the best families and dancing with the most refined partners at social events on Londinium and the Core. She rarely has the opportunity to mingle with the hoi palloi and consequently comes off on people as snooty and stuck-up, even if unintentionaly as the victim of her privileged upbringing. Aemilia seeks for amusement and diversion so long as she retains the freedom to enjoy it, a window now rapidly coming to a close as pressures to marry mount.

• Mr. Soh Byung-Min

Affiliation: Eugene Soh
Description: I am flattered to have been asked by Eugene to NPC her character's father. In spite of the many high-profile characters to my name, probably none have a stick quite so far up their rear than this simple master of the martial arts. A man of few words, he easily expresses his disdain for firearms with cold stares and self-righteous expressions.

• Philip Cho Kim, M.D. D.S.

Affiliation: Blue Sun
Description: R&D Team Leader, Pharmacology specialist. Formerly a university professor on Londinium, Dr. Kim is a even-headed researcher owning just enough charm and finesse to keep in line the bureaucratic nob-heads who fund him. He is equally adept in navigating the depths of scientific discovery and the treacherous shores of departmental politics. On the grid his role is to represent Blue Sun in plots that require personnel with a background in science or medicine.

• Mr. Donald Humphrey Lewis

Affiliation: Maggie Anders, M.D.
Description: Park warden, former Browncoat sniper, and occasional wildlife guide to the elite. Lewis is a reserved, dignified bushman who tends to find himself in the urban jungle since leaving Greenleaf to keep an eye on his fictive niece, Maggie. Now that she has fallen in with that pack of ruffians on the Ethereal Embrace, he can occasionally be found in the ship's common area, ready to offer the crew a helping hand.