Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board Getting Involved in Roleplaying on the MMB: 101

A very smart Legion World poster gave me the idea for this thread and I think it's a great idea that could be very useful to lurkers and new posters, particularly if we're getting an influx with the new oncoming series. In the past, the method has basically been "jump in and figure it out on your own" and then we of course wonder why some people don't do that.

So: on the Mission Monitor Board, there is often a large degree of "roleplaying" going on; this is very cyclical in nature, with some points in time where it is very prominent and some points were its almost non-existent. Everyone who gets into the roleplaying side of things is very open for new posters to jump into it and would be grateful for a new viewpoint and some new creativity.

Roleplaying for this group began 10 years ago as part of the foundation of the “LMBP”, which you can view this history of here, in The History of the LMBP . I recommend you check that thread out but if you don’t feel like wading through a multi-page thread, I can summarize: a group of posters who loved the Legion began acting “in-character” based on their usernames and basically created a fictional universe in which we are a Legion-like group of superheroes. Usually, in the roleplaying side of things, we are a bit sillier than our comic book counterparts.

In 2003, we moved to Legion World and that is the setting for the roleplaying and it is exclusively done here on the MMB forum. You will notice on the MMB that sometimes posters will post “in-character” rather than their normal voice—this can be slightly confusing at times.

There is also a plethora of Alternate ID’s on the MMB that come out and play and you should take them for what they are: often silly characters looking to increase the level of fun.

While its good to be aware of the 10 year history of the group, do not let that get you bogged down. It’s more for fun and whimsical reasons and you’re certainly not expected to know it all (though we’d be delighted). For instance, Pov, a prominent poster joined in Year 2; Eryk Davis Ester, joined us around Year 3; Kent Shakespeare in Year 4; Stealth and Rockhopper Lad in Year 5/6. The list goes on and on but the point is most of the posters here did not start out all the way back in the early days and part of the fun is the growing number of posters interacting.

So, how to get started?
A great way to start is to introduce yourself here (the real you). Welcome to Legion World!

If you’re a lurker on Legion World (have visited but not posted), many of us would be delighted if you “de-lurked” on this thread, Lurkers Reveal Yourselves! , in which several longtime Legion Worlders first joined us.

If you’re creating an LMB persona, you can start your own thread and give hints to your origins (species, backstory, etc.). There may be a catch-all thread for this, but damned if I can remember.

A great way to further introduce yourself is to list your powers here: LMB Powers

There are a broad variety of threads where Roleplaying has taken place where you can begin to interact with people. I will not list them all, but at the risk of insulting an Alt ID or roleplaying Legion World proprietor here are 3 of the more prominent ones that have been in existence almost since the beginning of Legion World:
SHAKES
Cafe Cramer
The Office of Security

I also will gladly answer any questions or concerns in this thread, or in a private message you may have about roleplaying on the MMB. A lot of the time, I will tell you “don’t worry about ___, I don’t even understand it myself but am just winging it”. That is the general attitude of many posters—you’re only as “lost” as you pretend to be.

The Golden Rules of Roleplaying
Just because roleplaying can get crazy, that does not mean any rules of Legion World change. All of the Rules of Conduct are in effect. Though each one is equally important, the first one needs to constantly on all our minds: RESPECT.

Following that notion, it should be clear that you cannot do something to someone’s character that they would not want to happen. So don’t be surprised if you try to kill, assault or embarrass someone’s character and they simply undo it in their next post. It is completely up to them whether they will allow these things to have occurred.

I would also reiterate to roleplaying posters the following golden rule: There is no story ownership in a roleplay; by engaging with other posters on the MMB, you are giving up your right to dictate the outcome of a roleplaying story—this is a shared ownership ongoing event. So be prepared to be open to new ideas, new twists and allow others to engage.

I welcome any further advice some posters may want to add that I left out, and any dialogue people would like to have on the topic.

The only other thing I would mention in regards to role playing is that there are other non-roleplaying threads in the MMB forum that our "characters" can bleed into. Thus if Officer Taylor and I are calling each other out in various threads in this forum, it is 100% in good fun and not taken seriously.

There is alsoo a lot of flirting done in good fun here as well. None of it is too serious and should be a fun light hearted thing.

Like Cobie said, it can seem very daunting the first time, but it is a lot of fun, and because it is a team "sport" you never know where the next poster is going to take the story.

just taking this little snippet from your post Cobie
you cannot do something to someone’s character that they would not want to happen

If you want certain things to occur for the storyline YOU are advancing, PM the individuals involved. We are a pretty nice group here and will probably play along

Great idea for a thread, Cobie. In the past, I've actually considered pming members to ask about how the role playing works here, but was to embarrassed/timid to do so. As a result, I've tended to sidestep role playing just so I won't get in the way.

Very nice primer, Cobalt. Come clean, though... you drew this up to clear up the classic newbie mistake of thinking roleplay step #1 is... Shoot Cobalt Kid.

Shoot 'em or sleep with 'em!

Some do both...just sayin.

Often one leads to the other (and then the cycle repeats)

Roleplay with us, n00bs! All the cool kids are doin' it! Here\'s a golden opportunity to jump right in and be a frickin' Security Officer!!

If you're lurking and wondering what the sprock's goin' on with my character, here's a little background on his motivations:


Chief Taylor was an extremely powerful hero called "Lard Lad" who recently lost all his powers as the result of an assassination attempt by an unknown assailant. Feeling inadequate without his formidable powers, Lardy (as his friends know him) threw himself into his work in the Security Office (LW's police force).

Along the way, he also lost his latest great love, Rockhopper Lad because Rocky's Pyngwyny tradition forbids him from marrying anyone without powers.

So Lardy became even more depressed and obsessed with his job until suddenly his pal Cobalt Kid resigns from the Office out of the blue. Lardy lobbies HARD to replace Cobie as Chief. LWGov (with presumably some pressure from Cobie) agrees and makes Lardy the new Chief in light of his accomplishments in his recently-concluded LMB leadership term, particularly some behind the scenes crime clean-up he and Cobie spearheaded.

So Lardy's in charge and, well, Lardy's best intentions always seem to go awry. You can bet that down the road he's gonna mess up and probably do some questionable things. A Lardy attempting to overcompensate for his loss of power just might be as potentially dangerous as a Lardy overflowing with the limitless power of the Lard Force he wielded as Lard Lad! That's what I hope to explore in his role as Chief.

Lardy has a hugely checkered history that has been explored most notably in past roleplays, three fanfics I wrote and one particularly awesome tag-team story several of us contributed to. In sequence they are:

Turning Point Pt. 1
Turning Point Pt. 2
INVASION! (roleplay)
Omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis (the tag-team)
Smoke and Mirrors
Five Faces of Death (roleplay)
Thyme Crime (roleplay)

None of these are absolutely necessary to understanding Lardy, but if you have some time on your hands...

What'll happen next? I have no idea! What makes it fun is seeing other posters join in and throw their own wrinkles in. Random as it sounds, what often happens is a whole much greater than the sum of it's parts.

I'd encourage some of the other roleplayers to give some of their characters' backgrounds here to help anyone who might need that extra push that only knowledge can bring!

I'm thinking since Teed's "YOU'RE EXCUSES FOR NOT POSTING ARE UNACCEPTABLE" thread contains a link to this thread, I should de-headline it.

Thoughts?

Is it taking up too much room? Or is it pretty useful to have up at all times?

There hasn't been much in the way of roleplaying recently, so I would go ahead and deheadline it.

You can always bring it back should situations call for it.

A new roleplay is kicking off now--so I hope posters new & old join in!

Ram Boy, hope to see you jump in! As LMB Leader, you have a natural fit. Use this thread, PM posters or just jump in on our own.

Future King, everyone else in the MMB who may be a little unsure of how to proceed--here's hoping you get involved!

I'm beginning to think this current roleplay should be called "Love and War"!

Haha, it fits!

Yeah, it fits,,,but we usually come up with something more clever!

"Love and Loss", maybe? Is there another "L" that would make for some nice, solid alliteration?

Other suggestions?

"Love Leads to Loss" maybe.

Or "Love, Loss and Lessons"

Yes, it is getting quite complicated. Red Arrow and Question Lad are heroes, but they are very Post-Watchmen and Post-Starman. I go out of my way to write three-dimensional characters.

I suppose "Love's Labour's Lost" has been taken, but something similar would be interesting. "Love, Labor and Loss" or "Love, Loss and Liberty" perhaps?

Like having liberty in the title!

I vote for "Love, Loss and Liberty" because that is what it is all about.

Sounds good to me too.

After I logged off I was thinking "Seeds of Destruction". The reason I like this one is because every single plot element is about some things from the past coming back to bite the LMB in the ass! In some cases it's long-simmering plots. In other cases it's backstories of the characters suddenly coming to a boil. And a lot of it is simply character flaws. I suppose you could argue that's true of many of our major roleplays, but it seems especially true of this one somehow.

I suppose whether the "Love, Loss and Liberty" name is perfect hinges on whether the romace/love aspect is as key as I perceived it last night. There were a number of quiet scenes last night that struck me that way.

Of course a more catchy name might be "Bees, Bots & Despots", which would encapsulate the threats pretty well. (Kinda like that one the more I think about it! ) It's kinda on the whimsical side but also entirely appropriate.

(If everyone's in love with the LLL title, though, I'll shut up!)

Seeds of Destruction sounds like a Hellboy title...

I do like the "Bees, Bots & Despots" one though.