Write CRAPpy Posts

[Ao]

Hey guys,

Had a long conversation with Shor and Cuss last night, about making explicit actions as a player.

You see, Custer related that our approach of the Kobold campsite felt a little bit railroad-y. I'm glad he brought that up, because I want to make sure we avoid that as much as possible.

I like to use the acronym CRAP, for how you should structure your posts.

C is for characteristic, which you guys all do really well. No metagamers here, far as I can tell. You all act in character.

R is for reactionary, which means check my post, and make sure you're responding to all the threats, or plot points, that have been put in front of you so we can advance the story.

A is for Actionary, and this is what I want to talk about the most.

Actionary means that I need concrete, solid actions from every player for every post. I know in groups its sometimes hard, because you dont want to speak for the group and look like a spotlight hog.

But the important thing is, if I don't have concrete actions from the players, then I will go with what I assume is what you want to do based on the musings in your post.

And that's what leads to feelings of being railroaded. Because I have to advance the story somehow, but if you haven't explicitly lain out how you want to approach something, I can't do it how you want it done.

To give some examples. For the recent post about there being a noise in the swamp, we could have seen a few of these possibilities in OOC action statements at the bottom of character posts. I'm using random characters, so don't feel singled out.

[Shorjahl suggests the group covers themselves with swamp moss, and head towards the noise, circling around from the North]
or
[Anna vehemently refuses to go in the direction of the noise, stating that it's a waste of time and retrieving the horn is more important]
or
[Osvald insists that we head north, towards the mountains, and find a camp site that isn't anywhere near this menacing racket]

All of those are acceptable, tangible actions to take. Even just something like:

[Custer starts off in the direction of the noise, motioning for the fellows to follow him. *Custer takes the Scout role*]

No encounter is mandatory. No storyline is mandatory. No path is prescribed.

We can do this your way, just let me know how you'd like it done.

Cheers
-Ao