Talk:Personal Ongrid PrPs

So, yesterday I offered to write up an edited version of this page... here's my take. Use as much or as little as you like of it.

Small Stories

Small Stories are a great way to share stories about your characters' roleplay and development and get XP and RPP rewards for them. Your story must involve multiple (3+, typically) on-grid RP sessions with other players that relate to a common story premise. You can submit up to 3 Small Stories per month, per player.

To create one:

1. Decide on a premise: what is the story about?

2. Participate in on-grid RP related to that premise.

3. Write a small story summarizing the events of that on-grid RP.

4. Submit the story to staff.

Small Story Premises

A Small Story premise can be anything you want to RP about. It can be epic or mundane, silly or serious, formal or informal, significant point of character development or slice of character's life, basically anything you like.

For example, maybe your character...

• ...has made some money and now wants to buy some magic items.
• ...is looking for an apartment to rent.
• ...is joining an [[1]]
• ...has just levelled up and is learning new spells.
• ...has discovered a plague of rats in their apartment and wants to eliminate them.
• ...is getting the broken stove at the orphanage repaired.
• ...has discovered their [[2]] and is exploring what it can do
• ...has discovered a glowing crystal inscribed with strange runes and wants to figure out what it does.
• ...is writing a treatise on the Elemental Planes.
• ...has had a family heirloom stolen and is tracking down the thief.
• ...is finding their animal companion.
• ...is being harassed by a drunken Bard who insists on following them around all day reciting bad poetry.
• ...is uncovering the history of their [Weapon].
• ...is dealing with unexpected houseguests.
• ...is heavily in debt to an [Syndicate] loanshark and needs to earn 500gp by the end of the week, else risk losing one of their fingers.

If you would like help brainstorming ideas, ask around the Gaming Table or the Pub channel.

If you aren't sure if your premise is appropriate, just talk with staff.

On-Grid RP

The RP must be about your premise in some way. Other than that, this is just like any other on-grid RP... it can be full of adventure and battle and heroism, or it can involve characters getting coffee together, or anything in between. Nothing special has to happen, no GMs have to be involved, etc.

Just grab some other players and get on-grid!

For example:

1. Galena is looking for an apartment to rent.

2. She goes on-grid with her friends Alriz and Sellieri and RPs a scene where they wander around Goblintown looking for cheap apartments, check some out, find one she likes, and discover that the landlord is currently unavailable. They grab some dinner and trade gossip.

3. A few days later she asks if anyone's interested in RP and meets three new players. She explains her Small Story and they agree to do an ongrid RP where Galena returns to Goblintown, where she is accosted by a Hobgoblin street gang, and the other two players are attracted by the noise and help her fight the gangers.

4. Still later, she does an on-grid RP where she and Sellieri return to the apartment, only to find the landlord dead on the floor with a knife in his back! While they investigate, they realize the building is on fire and flee.

Or whatever you like. Have fun!

Just as in everyday RP, the players can make up whatever details they need (like the apartment and the landlord and street gang and so forth), control NPCs, include diceless or diced combat, whatever they wish.

Write the Story

For example:

One day, Galena decided to rent an apartment.

She and her friends Alriz and Sellieri went to Goblintown, looking for cheap apartments. The first place they saw was intolerably filthy, the second had upstairs neighbors who practiced Oruch step-dance, and the third was full of lighter-than-air balloons, who knows why? The fourth apartment was nice, though. Plenty of room, access to the roof, and affordable.

Unfortunately, the landlord was out. So she came back alone the next day, but the Night Scratchers were out looking for victims, and they attacked her. She was saved by the arrival of...

• You can write the story any way you like: third-person, first-person, flowery prose, simple clean narrative, whatever works for you.
• It's fine to add elements to the story that weren't in the ongrid RP, but the story should primarily involve RPed events. Please make clear which events took place on-grid, and what other PCs were involved.
• There's no fixed length limit. A few paragraphs covering 3+ on-grid sessions is typically long enough.
• See +bbread 16 for more examples.

Submit the story

Use +request/prp to send the story.

Make sure it includes:

• Story premise.
• Actual on-grid events that occurred
• Other players involved, and their involvement
• May we share your Story on +bbread 16?

Once staff approves the request, you'll receive a PrP's worth of awards based on your level, plus 4 RPP.

Additional questions and answers

Can I submit a Small Story based around DM-run scenes or PrPs?

No.

Your story can include references to DM-run scenes or PrPs, but the events it describes should happen primarily in on-grid RP. DM-run scenes have their own rewards, after all. We will have to reject SS's which are scene/PRP-only.

Can I submit a Small Story based around random, nonconnected RP?

No.

The on-grid RP events that a Small Story describes must have a common premise. Relatedly, the premise cannot be something completely generic like "I meet some new people and we hang out together."

How serious/epic/etc. do Small Stories need to be?

Not at all.

Small Stories can be as serious or as lighthearted as you like. They can relate to major transitions or to smaller tales such as fixing a stove or getting a haircut.

Can a group of people get together and put forward an idea for a Small Story, then RP it?

Absolutely!

A Small Story can describe a series of on-grid RP sessions involving the same group of characters, or different characters. Either way, though, every player should write their own story and submit it separately to +request/prp. Yes, this means there can be several Small Stories that describe the same events from different perspectives. That's perfectly OK.

How many ongrid roleplays do I need?

At least 3. Beyond that, as many as you feel you need.

Can I still collect RPPs for on-grid RP that is part of a Small Story?

Yes.

You can collect RPPs during ongrid roleplay as normal along the way.

What if I'm not great at introspective writing?

That some folks write introspectively is a personal preference, not a necessity. What is important is that the SS makes evident that this was roleplay that happened ongrid (Please don't make staff scratch their heads! This means we have to page you for clarification, which makes things take longer.). If you wanted to just include these summaries labeled as Summary 1, Summary 2, etc., you are more than welcome. You are welcome to whichever style you wish.

How often can I earn SS rewards?

Small stories are rewarded up to 3/month per player, not character.

Can Small Stories be ongoing, or in parts?

Yes.

Several Short Stories can relate to the same premise. For example, Galena's player could submit a second Short Story recounting her further apartment-hunting adventures. So if it's interesting, keep going. We'll reward you every month the story continues.

Do I need logs?

No.

Just cover some hilights and tell us who was there.

Can the award for a SS be given to a different alt?

Yes.

Just mention this in your +request.

Can I submit a Small Story describing me meeting the love of my life and the shape of their manly chin?

No.

You are welcome to develop your romantic relationships on the side, but they are not rewardable with game mechanics. A relationship can be mentioned as an aside to a larger arc, but it can't be the focus of the Small Story. Also, staff doesn't really need to read about manly chins. Really.

Can I submit a Small Story describing my character being super-awesome, really lucky, successful, etc.?

Within limits, yes, but be careful with it.

Small Stories are bound by our Behaviour and general PrP policies, and tend to follow those guidelines. In general, this means give others a fair shake, don't be a jerk, and don't be creepy. Involve others. Act like someone you'd want to invite back to the table, in other words.

When in doubt, fall back to our Behavior policy.

In general, don't RP your character having abilities they don't have under Pathfinder rules... e.g., no having your fighter suddenly throwing fireballs around. But basically so long as no one's rewriting theme, roleplaying being the divine-granted son of the king, whom stars foretold and recently elected the super-secret head of the Thieves' Guild, or posing hordes of NPCs bowing/acting fearful as the cleft-jaw'd hero's cape flutters, and applauding everywhere you go...and generally being fair to others, it's probably alright.

When in doubt, check with staff.

Can I submit a Small Story describing another character I don't like being a jerk?

We'd rather you didn't.

In this spirit, be careful of describing others' PCs in your stories. This doesn't mean issue a glowing report--it does mean don't use SS as a platform to describe what a jerk someone is, and then ask us to post it. We don't do that.

Can Level 20 PCs still submit Small Stories?

Yes.

However, they receive a reduced award, as they're effectively at the end of their leveling.