Crew Training
Roleplay Handbook
By Daiktana & Reinee Jinera (Ret.) for USSL
Name Changes by Gerolkae & Marshall Lee

A special thank you to Reinee Jinera who originally authored this handbook for the SSG Continuity.  However since it was so well done and fits with really any continuity I've decided to put it on the required reading list. -Diaktana

This was just too good to change up so we kept it -Gerolkae

Roleplaying is a very complex process, and interacting with others makes it all the more enjoyable. However, doing so also means that you are playing off of another's emotions, physical reactions, and words. Remember that they are doing the same thing when they play with you. In this light, it would seem obvious to give as many detailed, encompassing posts as possible. I'm not talking about describing your buttons for three lines--rather, I speak of incorporating facial expressions, direction you look, physical actions, tonal inflections, and general descriptions in addition to what your character says. Without this, the character is about 256 color pixels running around on the internet.

Chapter 1 - Background

"Remember where you've been and you will not forget where you're going" - Chinese Proverb

All roleplay in a strict environment like Starship Avalon starts with a deep background. Your background determines what you do in life. Someone who's afraid of technology would more then likely not take a job as an engineer. Although some of your background was designed when you applied you will constantly add to it.

The idea behind strict roleplaying (Starship Avalon's RP concept), is that the characters that are participating are fully conceptualized, working out their strengths, weaknesses, demeanors, emotional tendancies, and quirks. This character has permanence, meaning that if you get hurt, you are not magically healed the next day. It is a simple matter of keeping some continuity to your character--you cannot lift 150 pounds one day, and then have trouble dragging a 50 pound box from the cargo hold the next. Limitations placed on a character are what makes it fun to play! If we could all go around being an omnipotent being (sure, it'd be fun for a few days..) we'd be bored.

Chapter 2 - Limitations

"For the vast portion of your stay on a posting, you'll be doing run-of-the-mill things. Your days will probably look something like this: Eat. Sleep. Eat. Sleep. Red Alert. Eat. Sleep. Eat..." --Instructor Cysan

The Starship Avalon is a 5 deck Prometheus class starship. If you feel the need to constantly be doing something try to think of something other then a broken console. If we really had the number of consoles breaking that cadets seem to fix constantly we'd be back in spacedock having a full refit to try to fix the problem. Think of something more along the lines of monitoring. If there's nothing to monitor go take a break, walk around, plug your tricorder into a wall port and scan systems... run diagnostics. It impresses your superior officers more when you can roleplay the mundane then when you don't create problems to fix. Fixing something implies it was broken which implies that someone didn't do their job to maintain it.

Chapter 3 - The Military Chain of Command

If you've ever seen a submarine war movie you'll probably notice that there is someone giving an order and someone else repeating it. While we don't go this strict to make sure everyone knows what's happening it is still the division head who runs things. Think of it in the manner of "You changed the console in section B. It now requires a different password to operate. Without asking if it needed to be changed or getting permission from your superior officer you go and change it thinking it won't affect anyone. Later that day someone needs to access the console to secure something or check something out. They're unable to log in because you didn't ask for permission or notify the section head that you had completed the task. When it's traced down you might want to transfer to another ship." You have superiors to coordinate.. not simply to give orders. Without them you'd have consoles being repaired 47 times because no one realized it had already been. The key to operating in Starship Avalon is to roleplay the mundane. If you think it's boring then you aren't trying. The mundane can be extremely awesome to RP when you have 10 other people roleplaying the mundane. It gives a room character.

Chapter 4 - Ship Wide Incidents

On a navy ship the lowest man on the totem pole would not call for a red alert when he found a suspicious box in a corner. He would call security or the watch officer and would more then likely fear calling the Captain unless the box had already detonated. If you call for a red alert you'll definitely get to RP. People will be woken up. The bridge will fill up, staff will run to their stations, security will report to key areas and when it's discovered that you put the entire ship on alert when you simply had to call a security officer to come tell you that the suspicious box (which would 90% likely not be dangerous as it's on a secure vessel) is actually someone's lunch, you will then face an IC RP of you explaining to the superior officer why he has gotten in trouble from -his- superior officer for -your- actions. The key to remember is if it's not directly and definitely affecting the immediate safety of the entire ship then you shouldn't call for an alert.

Chapter 5 - Your Superior Officer is NOT your friend

At no time should you be chatting it up with your superior. They're there to make sure you do your job and to follow orders from his or her boss. In the military it is a crime for an officer to fraternize (simply put to 'hang out') with enlisted staff. Unless you're ooc you should try not to be seen by your superior unless you've done something right. It's not your place to offer a suggestion unless you're asked for it. Brutal but honest you're a grunt. Until you make a position of seniority you should be roleplaying your job as someone who does the dirty work, goes back to the messhall or their quarters at the end of the day, throws up their feet and jokes with fellow grunts talking about the day and more then likely trying to figure out what's going on since most of the time the junior staff aren't told.

Chapter 6 - If you don't need to say something, don't

More cadets embarass themselves offering suggestions or trying to technobabble when they're not part of the conversation. It doesn't impress your superior officer when they've been given an order by the Captain to do something and you come up, thinking you know what's going on, and tell them they can do something another way. Unless you're fully briefed and on the project in a position to offer a suggestion, don't. If you are over in the corner monitoring warp plasma output or scanning that piece of asteroid and the Captain and Chief are conversing quietly in the corner about something you should be trying to, at most, listen in, not giving away that you're evesdropping and offering a suggestion.

Chapter 7 - If you go over someone's head, make sure your butt is covered

There's nothing more annoying to a section head to find out one of their staff went over their head because they didn't agree with something or just didn't know (which there is especially no excuse for). Go to your section head with your problems, they'll come to you with orders. Unless you plan on ICly getting a grudge from your superior officer and never getting promoted you'd better have a really good reason for going over someone's head.

Chapter 8 - Sleep

Probably the hardest thing to accomplish. Sometimes it's necesary to just have your character rest in their quarters. If you don't like not doing anything ask a council member if you can create a Non-Player Character (NPC) to operate when you're asleep. Be advised you have to know what you're doing before you'll be allowed to do this.

Chapter 9 - The whole person concept

Most people have heard of those seminars where you try to discover who you are to better yourself. In strict RP this idea is huge.

"Gee! Does that nervous twitch of yours affect your accuracy with that thing?" --Evan Faltine

Shyness, hyper-activity, jittery, refusing to meet another's eyes--all these can be played out with your character. Mannerisms and quirks add depth to a character, but also brings side effects. Someone who is shy is probably not going to be too keen on leading an away mission. A hyper-active engineer is great, provided his added energy is focused on a task, rather than crawling under his direct supervisor's skin. Do not volunteer your character for positions that they would not normally take. A shy officer is more than likely not going to take a command position. However, if you are ordered to do something that is against your character's natural tendancies, feel free to play it out to the fullest.

"Watch the way you speak to me, Commander, or I will surely make you regret that condescending tone." --Reinee Jinera

The way we speak changes drastically, depending on with whom we are speaking. This happens in the real world, so it would naturally happen here at Starship Avalon. Just as you speak to your parents, teachers, and authority figures a respectful, if detatched tone, your conversation becomes much more laxed around those whom you know well. As there is a complex ranking system in Starship Avalon, there are also certain forms of ettiquite that are stressed for speaking to various individuals. These include standing at attention when certain officials come into the room, addressing furres by their ranks, and the like. If your character does not have respect for a certain individual, that is fine and good--but do not be surprised when the disrespected furre takes action appropriate to the offense.

Chapter 10 - Actions

"Well Ensign, are you going to attempt to repair the console, or are you going to stand there looking at me blankly until twenty-four hundred?!" --Reinee Jinera

Actions speak louder than words--but seeing that nearly everything on Furcadia is text-based, something has got to be done to make the actions stand out. This, naturally, is a good description! There is only so much that 'Ensign Joe keyed into the console,' can do in the way of stimulating roleplay. On the other hand, 'Ensign Joe frantically keyed into the console, gripping the side of the equipment with his free hand as he desperately searched for an answer as to why the power to lifesupport was being siphoned,' does much more to set the mood of the scene, and makes it easier to 'get into' character and responses.

Chapter 11 - Combat

"Hmm, fight or flight--the long-asked question as to how the brain responds to a threat. Well, unfortunately for you, I don't have wings. I guess this is the next best thing, no?" --Evan Faltine

'All right, it's about time you got to the good stuff!!!' Right? Wrong. Combat is actually a very small amount of the RP here at Starship Avalon. Why? Again, we look to practicality. If you are a particularly volatile character, eventually you will either be a) called on for your violent tendancies and shipped off the ship, or b) finally try and take on someone who is out of your league, and find yourself in sickbay or the brig. However, fighting does happen--tempers flare, insults are flung, something of that nature. So, let's discuss the basics of combat on Starship Avalon.

11.1 Turn-Based Combat

"There are things you do to better your position, and things you do not do, as it is not ethically right. Once you figure them out, the day is yours." --Instructer Cysan

Combat is established through turn-based, open-ended attacks in Starship Avalon. Meaning, you 'attempt to hit,' 'strike at her shoulder', 'release the trigger, aiming for his torso', etc. Never do you post that you actually hit, struck, or shot someone. You leave that up to the player defending. A note here, is that this is freeform. One of the major drawbacks to freeform, however, is that there is no definite answer as to whether one is successful. You have to trust the player of whoever is fighting with you.

Something to remember is someone's weapon qualification. Someone with a W5 would 99% likely crush someone with no weapon rating whatsoever. It is better to avoid the fight then to try to out-maneuver your opponent.

11.2 What to Expect

"My mistake was assuming you knew how to fire that weapon......your mistake was thinking that I am unarmed." --Reinee Jinera

The thing about combat is that it is freeform, and thus there are no dice involved. This takes a certain amount of trust on both parties involved. All weapons must be approved by council on entering of a character into Starship Avalon through their application. Any weapons acquired after that -must- be approved by council before usage. Weapons may be hidden, within reason. Obviously, one is not going to hide an omega-class shoulder rifle. However, one can very well appear unarmed and be anything but. If there is a question of how skilled a furre is, an RP moderator may be called in to watch the combat, or the combat can be submitted for review after the fact.

11.3 After-Effects of Combat

"For your sake you had better hope I never see you alive again. If I do you won't be alive long." --Daiktana

Combat has that unsavory effect of interring the hostility of those involved toward each other, as well as friends and co-workers of those involved. Suffice to say, it is unlikely that two combatants will be buying each other holiday presents. The effects of this can be quite drastic. Combat among crew may result in the demotion and/or dismissal of one or both parties.

Another serious effect of combat is the injuries sustained. No one likes playing a debilitated character, but if you do acquire injuries, you will be expected to play them through recovery. This will not be foregoed by letting your character drop to inactive for a week or so and then bringing him back fully healed. If Council catches wind of such circumstances, there may be consequences.

Chapter 12 - When in doubt, ask - Check Please.

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever." - Chinese Proverb

True to the proverb it is far better to not know what's happening and ask when you first discover something then to wait 2 weeks and then either find out that you've been doing it wrong which is really embarassing and doesn't impress anyone or you ask then and are embarassed because you didn't ask before and definitely don't impress your officers.

This being said, you should always check the webpage for the information first. We try to provide as many answers to questions as possible. If you ask a question that is on the webpage you'll either get a dirty look, get talked about behind your back, or just get told to check it yourself. In any case if you check first and then ask you're more likely to come out ahead.

Chapter 13 - Continuity and Timeline

 Starship Avalon Continuities has several Simulations (Furcadia Dreams) under our umbrella. This Means for one Character to go from one simulation or another there needs to be Method of Travel and a Time delay for that method used. One player cannot simply pop a character out of one simulation and then magically put in play at another simulation. That’s the same as Being on the US east coast one minute and then being on the west coast the next. In real Life you have several options, a train takes about a week, a Plane takes a day or 3, or walking takes months, and sailing though the Panama Canal takes weeks or months depending on the speed of the vessel. You could go through the North Pole and freeze your But off or take the long route going around the tip of South America or traveling around Asia.

In Starship Avalon Continuities we have the same thing, Shuttles travel a Max speed of warp 4, Some vessel have a Star gate, In Some extremely rare cases. Some folks have Special abilities to Teleport or realm walk. Ships have Transporters but they have a limited distance restricted for orbits. So Check with the vessels personnel for a status update on its location. If you use the Star gate, then you’d need to send a transmission after the wormhole activates. You wouldn’t want to Slam into an iris and become flatter then a pancake.

The point is cover your bum and make sure your character has a reason to change simulations and there is a back story or role played event  to explain why your’re there and how you got there.

Chapter 14 - Conclusion

If you follow the examples set above and learn to adapt to situations as they come you'll grow as a roleplayer and have great times as you advance through the ranks