To ensure a smooth transition into our sick and twisted little corner of the World of Darkness, I thought it would be the gentlemanly thing to do to at least offer you a candle on your way in. Least I can do to save you from tripping over the same obstacles I did on my way in.
If the portents of doom to be found on so many of the walls around here are any indication, none of us may make it out of here alive, and this could well be the last bit of kindness anyone extends you.

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First, it is very helpful if you disable your pop-up blocker for this site, as there is an integrated messaging system that allows us to contact others when they are here, it is accessible in a couple of different ways but primarily by clicking on their name in the lighter blue bar at the top of the page where it says "Online." This system updates when you refresh the current page you are viewing or when you navigate to a new page via a link. Forward and Back buttons on your browser are not recommended.

There is also a Private Message function.  You can send a message to anyone on the board and it essentially creates a new, isolated thread that only yourself and the recipient(s) can access. As far as I can tell, an indefinite number of replies may be posted. This serves as a good way to do “secret” stuff with clan-members, coteries, cabals or any other clandestine group that is secretly plotting… whatever it is you are plotting.

It is helpful if you sign-up with a username that is the same as your intended character name, though failing that (as I did), if only playing one character, there is the option of putting the character’s name in the “Quote” box on your profile so that it is still displayed next to all of your posts. Some have even taken to creating multiple accounts for their characters. Still others are semi-ubiquitous, and none of the above applies, but you’ll figure out who they are quickly enough.

Avatars have given a handful of us some trouble. While not necessary, they do go a long way towards personalizing a character. There are any number of image hosting sites to upload images to, from here it is simply a matter of copy and pasting into the appropriate box. The format should be a direct link to the image in question (e.g. http://image-host/path/filename.jpg). Be aware that the image must be 175x200 pixels or less or it will not work.

(By Zachariah, Mr.Hyde)

Just a few other tidbits id like to add.


LATE JOINERS/GETTING CAUGHT UP:

There are alot of posts on the board and you may not want to read them all to get caught up. A few ways around this would be to read the game blog, which i will add a link to this post later... the blog breaks down each week of play into a little narrative given by the Vampire Prince, or By Gand, my mage character who basically has a finger in everything.

Another great way to know whats going on without having been there is to read the Sanfield Rock cable news/Print newspaper heading. I write these posts as a kind of comedic relief but they do contain both story hooks and a 'what everyone else sees' look at characters actions.

Aside from that, CHAT PEOPLE UP! I will reward XP to characters who just trade gossip. Use your clanmates, they are a great source of information and a PC will usually give you much more information about whats going on than I as the ST will.

WHERE DO I POST FIRST?:

This is up to you. Any thread that is OPEN, meaning i have not closed it, and people are still posting in it you can join in on. Even if its happening in another clans territory, odds are it will still be an open scene.

Failing that the RED ZONE is a great first stop for Vampires(The white rabbit is the equizilant place for mages). I have about 5 NPC's who frequent the place and many PC's stop there too. So you wont end up playing with yourself...


FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT:

I dont remember who told me that. But it works; there is nothing worse than a character who knows noone, and is ignorant about everything around them. Unless you are playing as an antisocial shut in odds are you have met a few other vampires/mages before.

So instead of playing through a bunch of 'Hi my name is..' scenes before doing anything interesting; just jump right in. Under character creation you will find details about ALL my Npcs that are common knowledge, and everyone introduces their PC's in similar fashion.

So make up some backstory, pretend youve already met, be interesting, dont be the 'New Kid'.

Another thing.

You are completely ALLOWED to play your character in multiple threads/scenes at once. The Majority of scenes do NOT happen concurrently and while there is really no formal timeline established beyond my news posts you can just usually tell easily what happens before what...

So yeah, Dont restrict yourself to one scene, you can play in as many as you can handle as most scenes are easily non-lethal so your most likely not going to have to be like.. ' Uh, this scene cant have happened because i kinda died last night.. oops. '  

--Last edited by Radiationjunkie on 2009-01-08 13:13:22 --