Hi, guys! I want to start this topic off by stating this: This guide is NOT intend to negatively use other players as examples, any situational likenesses to characters/abilities/players in roleplay is completely unintended!
Now! As the title suggests, we're going to be talking about playing strong characters responsibly in lismore - the reason I posted this is because, more frequently than would be liked, we will approve a strong or unusually powerful character, often under the assumption, even under the request sometimes, that the character be played responsibly.
Though we always get a "sure thing!" on those advisories, abuse of strong characters happens more than it should. So, this guide will be intended to bring up examples of such abuse, the reasons why those examples are problems, and then some suggestions for how to avoid such behaviours.
Let's start with the examples and types!
Examples of Abuse
1. Unnecessary use of power in a specific situations
This particular issue is very conditional, because different characters are bound to use their power in certain ways - however, this relates to situations where a character will completely let loose on someone when there's no justifiable reason for the excessive force - IE, a good-aligned mage blasts a thief with his most powerful spell for picking his pocket.
Why is this a problem??
Because, often, in cases like the scenario above - the other character may be a noncombatant, or may be weaker than yours in a fight. This kind of behaviour is uneccesary, often comes across as trying to kill another player's character just for the fun of it, and generally annoys players. Have fun, but please don't do it at anyone else's expense!!
2. Abuse for OOC reasons
This is a big problem, and we certainly have had instances of it - these are cases where, often, player A will have a problem with player B, and player A will find any excuse they can to have their stronger character kill any of player B's characters they can get their hands on.
Why is this a problem?
Asides from being an abuse of stronger characters, this is also strongly against the spirit of RP, and will DEFINATELY not be tolerated!
3. Bullying!
Yes, this term applies to roleplay! Bullying in RP is most often defined as a character disrupting an existing scene by having theirs force their plot on the group that's already playing. I'll give a couple examples here:
Player A notices that there is a scene in progress - the players in the scene are playing a relaxing scene at the tavern, or are discussing events on the island, or are getting ready to get busy - Player A then decides to bring in their character, who shares his body with a demon, into the tavern, and have the demon take over and start going berserk in the middle of the tavern.
Player A has their bandit character run up and start swinging at a couple of characters standing away from the rest of the group, trying to enjoy a private scene.
I could list a few more examples - but the point is probably obvious.
Why is this a problem?
Forcing a scene on people who don't want it is one of the most inconsiderate things you can do in any roleplay environment. It's not wrong to offer people the option to have some action installed in their roleplay - but please ASK first and make sure they want it! Otherwise, you are likely just to irritate them. If you do this alot with a strong character, chances are, the character card will be nerfed by GM ruling!
4. Threats and bragging
Now, there is a bit of a gray line here - threats and bragging, in this case, however, refer to IMing or speaking OOC to someone saying that your character is going to kill or beat theirs up, or that your character is the best swordsman ever and can't be beat no matter what.
Why is this a problem??
Reminding everyone of the fact that there are NO characters in existence in Lismore who can't be beaten, even at their own game, there's two reasons why this is a problem.
1. Bragging and threatening are a VERY quick way to agitate other players and create drama - don't do it!
2. Being frank and blunt, it's truly not impressive. Always remember that your personality and roleplay skill make you a better person or a better roleplayer - having a strong character DOES NOT.
