Roleplay Etiquette

Mechanical commands like /me and /do are the connective tissue of every scene. Used well, they make the difference between two people texting and two characters in a room together.

# /me — what your character does

/me describes a physical action. Third person, present tense, no quotes around speech.

/me reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a folded napkin.
/me leans against the bar, eyes flicking to the door.

The output appears as * Firstname Lastname reaches into his coat pocket... — purple, in everyone's chat within range.

# /do — environmental detail or a question

/do covers things /me can't:

• Environmental fact: what your character looks like to others, the smell of the room, a detail nobody would otherwise know.
• A question asked of someone in the scene, with ((Player Name)) at the end.

/do The folded napkin has a phone number scrawled on it in red ink.
/do Is the safe locked? ((John Doe))

The recipient answers with their own /do.

# IC vs OOC — keep them separate

• IC (In Character) is everything your character says or does — /me, /do, regular chat.
• OOC (Out Of Character) is you, the player, talking to other players. Use /b for local OOC or ((double parens)) inside chat.

# Narrate, don't just state

Bad:

/me kills him

Better:

/me raises the pistol, finger tightening on the trigger.
/do The shot is followed by a flat thump as the body slumps against the door.

The mechanical outcome is the same. The scene is night and day.

# Power-gaming and meta-gaming

• Powergaming — forcing an outcome the other person can't resist. /me knocks him out doesn't work. /me swings at his temple does, and the other person decides if it lands.
• Metagaming — using OOC info IC. Don't do it. If you're not sure, ask in /b first.

# Scene endings

A scene needs a graceful exit. Don't just walk off mid-sentence. A "alright, I should head out" and a /me nods is enough — your character has somewhere to be, the other player can wrap up too.