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Hey-oh. It's Ford here! After coming back to LotC from a several month break, I've noticed the amount of RP has rose! However, it's quality has gone down significantly! So, I've decided to make this guide just because why not. To begin, know this is completely based on my opinion of how role-play should be...So, le's do dis. 1. Never. EVER. Emote your thoughts. This is the one thing that I've noticed happening more often. There's no point in emoting your thoughts, because no one else can even hear you. The point of emotes are to express your characters actions, whether they be simple or complex. Emoting your thoughts doesn't move role-play forward whatsoever. Not only that, but it clutters the chat and creates gaps between actual physical emotes, which makes it slightly more irritating. Refrain from emoting your thoughts, as said above. 2. Don't be afraid to die. I've seen a few new players who get into fights that either they did or didn't start and they never want to die even though the current situation that there in practically states they should be dead by now. Do NOT be afraid to die during a battle. You will be teleported back to the monks and healed, however you will lose only 30 minutes of your memory, which isn't that bad. If you value your new character so much to the point where you can't possibly let them take a stab, then you need to rethink some things.Also, when fighting, you don't always have to be a fighting master. Sometimes being inexperienced in close-combat fights makes for better role-play. Don't be afraid to lose. 3. You CAN be detailed when making your emotes. Many times I've seen newbies who rush their emotes to try and be one step ahead of their opponent or fellow role-players, but their action is somewhat vague and can create confusion. Detailed emotes really do add feeling to role-play, and trust me: Short emotes can be detailed. Take your time. And when someone rushes you, simply continue typing until you're finished. 4. Fighting isn't the only fun thing in Anthos. Though fighting is fun, there's absolutely no need to make that the only "fun" thing to do on LotC when there's still so much that you can do to have fun. If you only consider fighting fun, then that's just your character and I understand, but just realize that there are other ways of having fun. 5. Relax. That's a big one. There are people that get angry over games, and they're usually immature, but it's definitely much more immature to get angry over some Minecraft fantasy role-play with pixel characters. There's no need to get upset over a little role-play that doesn't go your way. However, if you realize that this is unfair and you feel that it's ruining your experience, tell someone. Call for a staff member, take screenshots, show how you were wronged, but ALWAYS try to smooth out the situation with whoever wronged you first. Never get frustrated over a role-playing server. Stemming onto this, if you do develop real-life frustration over some role-play, try as hard as you can to not bring it back into the game world. It has happened before, and it ends up in chaos. If you're really that upset, just turn your computer off and step away. 6. Don't use OOC for silly things like saying "Hehe, I like pie too!" Tells and messages to other players can be used for that. It becomes annoying when used near a scene where real role-play is happening. OOC also, once again, clutters the chat and adds unneeded gaps between emotes and dialogue. Just remember that instead of using OOC, you can do /msg and then /r and type in your message to someone. An inordinate amount of times have I seen back-to-back dialogue over pointless things between two people in OOC that ruin role-play nearby. Just take it to /msg's. One more thing is that the best time to use OOC is when you want to explain a certain emote or action to many around you who may not understand what you just did. OOC can also be used to correct spelling errors or grammatical errors. Use OOC wisely and rarely 7. Quoted by AlpineAl himself, a veteran player, comes another great tip. "Don't try to get out of things with OOC. Voiding RP is a last resort." 8. Try showing fear where it's needed. I can understand if you want to be a total bad-ass, but when everyone else is running away and cowering in fear, you don't ALWAYS have to be the hero that stands up to the big baddie without a single hint of fear. Showing fear and surprise is a good thing, and likewise being traumatized by little itsy-bitsy events shouldn't be role-played too much either. I'll add more. Depends on how popular this gets. Probably not too popular, though...

So! Before you even get started, I must let you know this is a guide that was not written by me; it was written by a guy known as "grant," and I adapted it to LotC, and added a few things of my own mix. However, I find this guide extremely useful and necessary, mainly in this time and date, also known as complaints about the lack of role-play and some people moaning that Aegis was better - WHICH IS A WRONG STATEMENT. Why do I say this? Simple: Because people don't seem to know the difference between Aegis and Lord of the Craft during Aegis. Aegis was nothing but a map and, as we have seen twice, a map doesn't magically change things and make them better. It was the player base, the ideals, and the principles that were present during the time we role-played in a map known as Aegis, that made the difference. What happened? People forgot those things, and now we are going downhill in role-play quality, and decide to complain all over the place, as well as annoy the living hell out of the staff, and other players. So, why did I share and edit this article? So everyone reads it and learns that, if taken into account and used properly as a guide, it will help improving the quality of our role-play and make things better, hopefully bringing more players, who read this guide too, and improving things around. It is a guide meant for pen and paper RPGs. I adapted it to our situation. I highly recommend reading this guide whenever you´re feeling lost, bored, tired, or troubled by role-play. It really helps. - Jack O'Connell, aka. Minnan1. Small Warning: Contains mildly strong language to some extent; some words censored by the forums are used to mark the statements of this article. But it's nothing you've not heard before, c'mon... ======================================================================= ONE. Do stuff. Job One for you as a player is to do stuff; you should be thinking, at all times – “What are my goals? And what can I do to achieve them?” You are the stars of a very personal universe, and you are not going to get anywhere by sitting on your arse and waiting for adventure to come and knock on your door. Investigate stuff. Ask questions. Follow leads. No-one needs you to point out that this is an obvious plot thread while you do it. Mix up scenes, talk to people, get up in their grill. If you’re not playing the sort of character that would do such a thing, find something you can affect, and affect it. If you keep finding yourself pushed to the back of scenes and twiddling your thumbs – why is such a boring character hanging around with the sort of people that Get S**t Done? Be active, not passive. If you learn nothing else from this article, bloody learn this. TWO. Realize that your character does not exist outside of the things you have said. You can write as many pages of backstory as you like, mate, but they don’t factor in one bit to the game unless you show them happening. Are you a shrewd businessman? Cool. Do some business, shrewdly, in front of everyone else. Are you a hot jazz saxophonist? Play the saxophone. Are you a wild elf struggling through social interactions with civilized people? Struggle through those interactions! Don’t go off and sit under a tree, you prick! This ties back into the first point, really; you only exist through your actions. It is not the responsibility of other players to read your backstory, and their characters cannot read minds. Well. Some of them can, but you know what I mean. They shouldn’t have to. So display your talents, your traits, your weaknesses, your connections. Take every opportunity to show, and not tell, the other people in the server what your character is about. THREE. Don’t try to stop things. Negating another player’s actions is fairly useless play; it takes two possible story-changing elements and whacks them against each other so hard that neither of them works. For example, your fighter wants to punch some jerk, but your monk’s against it, so he grabs the fighter’s hand. In game terms, nothing’s happened. All you’ve done is waste time, and we don’t have infinite supplies of that. Instead, go with the flow. Build. If the fighter wants to break someone’s nose, what happens after that? Does your monk rush to help the jerk up? To admonish the fighter? To apologize to the jerk’s friends, before shite really kicks off? To save the fighter in the big brawl that ensues, even though he was going against your will? Or to throw the biggest guy in the tavern right at him, to really teach him a lesson? Those are all examples of interesting stories. Stopping him from doing anything whatsoever isn’t. Don’t negate, extrapolate. (See, that rhymes, so it’s easier to remember) FOUR. Take full control of your character. “My character wouldn’t do that” is a boring excuse, a massive NO to the game’s story on a fundamental level. It’s a point-blank refusal to participate. Instead of being bound by pre-conceived notions of what your character would and would not do, embrace complications and do it, but try to work out why. Why is your Rogue doing this mission for the church? Does he have ulterior motives? Is it out of a sense of companionship with the rest of the party? Characters in uncomfortable situations are the meat and drink of drama. (Do you remember that great story about that hobbit who told Gandalf to f*** off, and sat at home picking his hairy toes all day before his entire village was swallowed up by the armies of darkness? No. No you bloody don’t. So put on your backpack and get out there, Frodo) If you keep finding yourself having to explain your actions, or not wanting to go along with group decisions because of your character’s motives… well, sweetheart, maybe your character’s motives are wrong. They’re not written in stone. The group’s the thing, not your snowflake character, and if they’re not working, drop them off at the next village and maybe try playing someone more open to new ideas. Maybe work with the group to build a character that fits in. Your character is part of the story; this is not your character’s story. FIVE. Don’t harm other players too much, it gets annoying. Oh ho, here’s a jolly thief that nicks stuff from the other people! And their Sleight of Hand roll is so high that no-one will ever notice! Gosh, what a jape. F**** that guy. No-one likes that guy. (That guy generally plays Kender, and I am fully of the opinion that Kender should be promptly genocided out of all RPGs. I don’t think genocide is a crime if we’re talking about Kender.) If you steal from other players, you are exerting power over them in a really messy, underhanded sort of way. If they find out, what are they going to do? Are you going to force them to escalate? Is it fair if they kill you for it? Is that fun for them? Similarly, attacking other players is awful, too. I’m okay with this where systems fully support and encourage this, of course – something like Paranoia or Dogs in the Vineyard – but, Christ guys, give it a rest. I am hard-pressed to think of a way where such a thing improves the game; if the players involved are fine with it, discuss it beforehand. But keep me out of it. There are a whole load of things out there to steal from and beat up and kill that won’t get offended when you do it to them, so go bother them first. SIX. Know the system, don’t be a prick about it. (System being the server and how everything works.) If you know a system, you are easier to GM for, because you know your character’s limitations. You can calculate the rough odds of a particular action succeeding or failing, just like in real life. You can make prompt assessments of situations and act accordingly, because you understand the rules of the world. (New players, of course, get a free pass on this one. But do make an effort to learn the rules, obviously, if you’re keen on sticking around in the hobby.) But for the love of God, don’t rules-lawyer. Do not do that. It is not hard to work out, because here is a simple guide – if you are arguing over a rule for more than twenty seconds, you are a rules lawyer. You are the Health and Safety Inspector of role-playing games, and you need to stop talking, because you are sucking the fun out of the game. There are times when the rules are wrong, and that’s fine, but I’m hard-pressed to think of that time the guy remembered the rule and we all laughed and had a great time because he made the GM change it. Oh, and I almost forget: For the love of god, if you are being a rules-lawyer, do it in a PM, do not l-ooc the hell out of anyone. IT GETS ANNOYING. SEVEN. Give the game your attention. If you can’t give your full attention, step away from the computer. "Hey! What’s that you’re playing, on your phone there? Oh, is it Candy Crush Saga? That’s funny, all these dice and character sheets gave me the impression that we were playing Dungeons and F*cking Dragons, I must be terribly mistaken." - grant. It is hard to think of a way to be more dismissive of someone’s game than playing a different game during it. If you find yourself getting so bored by what’s going on you’re resorting to playing a game on your phone, or reading a book, or checking Facebook, then step away from Minecraft. You are draining the other players with your very presence. I would rather have an empty player slot than someone who wasn’t paying attention, because I don’t have to entertain an empty player slot. And of course, it’s up to everyone to offer an entertaining game. This is not one-sided. But going back to point one, act whenever you can. Give them something to work with. Unless you’re paying them money to do this, they are under no obligation to dance like a monkey for you just because they’re behind the screen. EIGHT. If you make someone uncomfortable, apologize and talk to them about it. (Warning: Mildly strong language. Contained within spoilers.) And that’s the point; in situations like the ones we find ourselves in on a weekly basis, it’s easy to make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe it’s as blatant as discussing dead babies or sexual interactions with animals; maybe it’s something much more benign, like being rude or chatting them up in-character. If you think you might have upset someone, then ask ‘em, quietly. And if you have, apologize, and stop talking about that particular thing. It’s not rocket science; that’s how existing as a functioning social human being works, and somehow because we’re pretending to be a halfling for a bit, we often forget how to do it. So, you know, be nice. Be extra nice. No-one’s going to think any less of you for it. NINE. Embrace failure. Failure can be embarrassing. I know that I get pretty het up when the odds don’t favor me – when I’ve spent ages waiting to have my turn in a large game, say, or when I’m using some special power, or when I’ve been talking a big talk for a while or described some fancy action – and I use some pretty bad language, too. And not “fun” bad language, like we all do when we’re gaming. Like threatening “is this guy okay” bad. And that’s not cool. I need to learn to treat failure as a story branch, not a block. Why did I miss? Why didn’t my intimidation role-play work? Why didn’t I pick the lock? Why was I seen? Who worked out that I’m the traitor? What other options can I explore? Some systems build this in by default and they give you the ability to somehow affect the world whenever you roll the dice, not just fail to affect someone’s Hit Points. That’s great! We need to get ourselves into that mindset by default. We need to view failures as setbacks and explain why our character didn’t achieve their goal, and we need to understand that failure is not the end of the world. TEN. Play the game. This is a game. This is not a challenge that exists solely in the head of other players, of the Event Team, of the GMs, of the Admins. This is not your character’s personal story arc. This is not your blog. This is not an excuse to chat up one of the other players. This is not a desk to sit at in silence. This is a game. We have signed up to play a game together. We are all telling a story with each other, to each other, and the story comes first. Step back from the heat of combat; step back from your character’s difficult relationship with their half-dark elf mother; step back from the way that the Paladin’s player keeps stealing your victories. This is a game. Respect the other players. Respect the story, and act in service of it. Respect that you will not always get your way, and that not getting your way can be interesting. Do what is best for the game. Do what is best for the story. Be active! Be positive! Be interesting! Change things! If you can’t walk away at the end of the night with a good memory, with something that you could talk about in the pub in years to come, then everyone in that role-play session has failed. ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/20/11-ways-to-be-a-better-roleplayer/

What?! RP Battles with 10+ people?! Impossibru! Not quite. Yes, large battles that are conducted using roleplay combat as opposed to PvP can be difficult and confusing, I will not pretend that they are not. But this chaos can be managed if one is willing to focus and be patient... and perhaps practice these techniques. Before we delve into the guide itself, I'd like to note that this is not a debate on whether PvP or RP combat should be the default, nor should said topic and other relation topics be debated here. This is strictly a guide for those who are willing to try and participate in larger battles using RP combat. So, moving on... Why would I want to bother with focus and patience??? Well, there are plenty of reasons... most of which tend to be more selfless than selfish. 1: Roleplay combat makes room for more creativity and versatility than PvP does. Emotes can be detailed and many players prefer this more immersive style of combat. 2: Some players, such as magic users, have difficulty conducting combat in PvP due to the lack of a magic plugin. Many feel that replacing their powers with swords and bows, enchanted or otherwise, undermines both the work put into gaining the privilege to use magic as well as the actual act using magic. 3: Many players have low FPS (frames per second) rates due to their computers, suffer from poor internet connection, or otherwise are put at a disadvantage in PvP for reasons outside of their control. They feel that RP combat helps to minimize these unfair disadvantages. Now, if one isn't willing to cooperate and compromise with other players, then most of this is void. However, it should be noted that people tend to be happy and tend to want to cooperate when you avoid conflict and are nice to them... so. If you're looking to build good relationships with players, perhaps give these techniques a try some time, and see how it goes. Even attempting to compromise will earn you respect from most people. When is this applicable? When would RP fights of this caliber be conducted? Obviously, there are some situations where RP fighting in general is just not practical. Whenever there are mobs, there is an amount of players so massive (say, 30 or 40+), or most players on both sides want to PvP, it is impractical and unreasonable to do a battle using RP combat. However, in battles of say, 10-25, these strategies can be employed. Battles like this might occur during wars between small armies, events, antagonist attacks, or large scale raids. Enough lecturing... what are the actual techniques?! Why, I'm glad you asked! The techniques are simple in writing, but can be difficult in practice. They are as follows: 1: Don't try and follow every single emote. OOC, it's just... very overwhelming. IC, it wouldn't make sense for your character to know every single thing going on in a battle of that caliber. Instead, focus only on... 2: ... your character, and his actions. Make sure you know what your character is actually doing. 3: ... your target. Make sure you know how your target responds to your attacks. 4: ... your attacker(s). This may be the same person as your target, or it may be someone else. It may be more than one person. Make sure you are aware of what is happening to your own character. 5: If you see a player, but do not know the player's character, simply do /seen _______. This only takes up one line of text, and will allow to know how your target responds to your attacks, and vice versa. In order to do the above, it is best to simply scan emotes quickly for either your character's name, the name of your target, and any emotes that appear to possibly affect the entire battle. Other than that, simply dismiss the other lines of text. Below is an example of a chaotic RP battle. Using these techniques, see if you can identify which lines are relevant to your own situation and which lines are not. Below will be a spoiler with the lines highlighted, though I strongly recommend trying the challenge out for yourself before checking the spoiler. Since an in game text box holds 20 lines of text, you will be asked to review twenty lines here. Your character's name, in this segment, is Vashklov the Impregnator, and your target is Bojangles the Clown. The Dark Lord lowers his shield and swings his sword diagonally from high to low and his own right to left at The E-Trade Baby. Little Bunny Foofoo shouts to his comrades as he desperately presses his sword to that of The Edgy One. "Help! Help!!" Bojangles the Clown stumbles and falls to his side as he is rammed by Sir Trolls-A-Lot. The E-Trade Baby lets out a terrifying, loud, high-pitched scream as he is slashed across the torso, falling onto his backside. Gluk-Gluk turns to flee, fearing for his life more than anyone else's. Yolo Swaggins closes his eyes and concentrates as his hands begin to glow a dim blue, trying to block out the noise around him. The Based God shouts, pointing to the tunnel in which reinforcements are streaming from. "Archers, fire!" Squire Billy cries out as Bojangles the Clown's throwing knife impales itself into his back, falling to his knees. George Clooney ducks under Whiney the Poo's backswing with his axe, then swiftly stands, draws his knife, and slashes across Poo's chest on the draw, attempting to immediately bring it back down afterwards and impale the knife in Poo's neck. Vashklov the Impregnator hacks downward at Bojangles the Clown with his broadsword, hoping to take advantage of Sir Trolls-A-Lot's help. Baelif Stonesmasher raises his warhammer from Snooty Elf's mush of a head, letting out a cry of victory. Ser Lord Bastard Justifier Joseph of Tyrannia the Fifth lets releases the string of his bow, watching as the barbed tip of the arrow hurtles towards Vashklov the Impregnator. Below is the same example, with "important" emotes highlighted and noted. Green text shows actions being done to or by your target, yellow text shows actions being done to you, and red text shows actions that might possibly effect large parts or all of the battle, including you. As you can see, there is still quite a bit to keep track of. However, we effectively eliminated half of the distracting emotes from our radar. When more people are added to the fight, even less will be happening to you and your target relative to the flood of emotes, and you will need to focus on even less of what's happening. I hope this could be of some service to people. If anyone has any questions or (constructive) criticism about this method of managing large scale RP battles, feel free to send me a PM on the forums or ask below. Enjoy!

Introduction Where to cook? You can't cook with just your hands! Food isn't made from air. Cooking is not done magically! 2) Wash your hands! I wouldn't want to eat the food cooked by someone who recently killed a zombie with annoyance, somehow scaled a mountain to cut travel time, entered an ancient crypt (think of the dust!), etc. Example: 3) Then you would take the ingredients out of their storage, prepare the food, and then cook the food. Easy! But make sure you type out detailed sentences while making your dish! Example: 4) Make sure you emote the smells that would come from the food you made. It greatly adds to the atmosphere of the kitchen and surrounding areas. People also enjoy to smell the emotes and respond with their own emotes, adding to roleplay. Examples: Fancy as f***. Do you even cook, bro? IMAGINATION~ But I don't know how to actually prepare food? Conclusion Thanks for reading!

~A Guide on RPing Pain~ -Introduction- Hello! You may be wondering why such a guide is even necessary. Pain is something that has a common place in all our lives - we have all burned our tongue on hot coffee, pricked our fingers, stubbed toes, and so forth. Why then, do we need a guide on how to roleplay these things? The answer is simple: some roleplayers do not understand how ‘painful’ various types of pain can be, and the effects pain has on the body. I hope this guide clarifies that and proves useful. Pain: Localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder (as a disease or an injury); also : a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical discomfort (as pricking, throbbing, or aching), and typically leading to evasive action. -Types of Pain- Lacerations/Punctures (Slashing/Stabbing) Perhaps the most common type of wound that occurs in LotC, this pain occurs when one is cut with a blade, impaled spear of some kind, or pierced with an arrow or bolt. The first thing to factor in when getting hurt with one of these types of weapons is the force put into the attack. Obviously, the deeper the cut, the more painful it will be. Another thing to consider is the sharpness of the blade; a dull blade will tear and rend the flesh, causing more damage and pain, while a sharp blade will cut easier, leaving a cleaner wound. Reactions to this form of pain can include opening of the eyes, pupil dilation, increased heart rate, faster and deeper breathing, and tensing up. Additionally, squirming, trembling, crying out, crying, shuddering, and whimpering may occur when this form of pain is inflicted upon someone. Vomiting and passing out sometimes happen when extreme pain is inflicted over a long period of time. Burning One of the more damaging types of attacks, burning pain can cause some of the most severe pain. Like all feelings of pain, it serves as a defensive mechanism which causes the body to get away from the ‘harmful stimulus’, preventing further damage to the body. If you have ever burned a finger on a hot stove, you know that usually you retract your finger quickly as a reaction. Prolonged burning, such as with a metal brand or hot poker, would cause much squirming and struggling. The reactions to this form of pain would also be similar to the reactions for stabbing and slashing wounds. Blunt Force Trauma This type of pain covers everything that involves getting punched, beaten, slapped, or hit with blunt objects. These types of wounds usually don’t break the skin, but they can cause broken bones, internal bleeding, and bruising. While one or two blows may only cause minor pain, as they occur more frequently breathing may be ragged and strained, with movement also being somewhat impaired. Blows to the head can cause dizziness, blurred vision, and eventual loss of consciousness. -A Note on Masochism- What is Masochism? Masochism is the enjoyment of what appears to be painful or tiresome, or when one receives pleasure from pain or from getting hurt. How it Works in Roleplay I would first like to say that being a masochist in LotC isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can provide interesting RP opportunities, and add depth to characters if done right. A few things must be considered before you can properly roleplay your character as a masochist. How did they begin enjoying pain - were they tortured or conditioned to enjoy it? What types of pain does your character like, and what doesn’t he or she like? Another thing should be kept in mind - masochism should be very specific. Many types of pain, such as burning, getting torn apart by animals, or being flayed alive wouldn’t likely be enjoyable, even by the most extreme masochist. -Resistances and Racial Lore- Races Each race would respond differently to pain. Everyone handles getting hurt in a similar way, but some have more of a tolerance for it than others. Races like the dwarves and orcs would likely be able to handle pain better than others, such as humans and halflings. This should be treated very carefully however - just because you are an orc does not mean you can fight fully and easily when you have multiple serious injuries. Adrenaline Rushes and Orcish Bloodrages In stressful and intense situations, an adrenaline rush may occur, where chemicals are released in the body that act as natural painkillers. When doing this in roleplay, one must keep in mind the effect wouldn’t be too strong, and it wouldn’t last very long. There is a difference between a slight tolerance to pain due to an adrenaline rush, and ‘going numb’ as adrenaline courses through one’s veins, the person shrugging off pain and fighting as normal. The latter would be an incorrect way of emoting. As for Orcish Bloodrages, I believe the effect is similar to an adrenaline rush, but on a much grander scale. (If anyone would like to clarify this that is knowledgeable with Orcish lore, I would appreciate it!) Tolerating Pain Many people are built differently, and the reactions people have to pain differ. Some may be affected differently. Think of a battle-hardened soldier compared to a normal, peaceful merchant. Both may be the same race and size, but one will have a higher tolerance to pain, having at least experienced combat more. Naturally, a peasant would be much more fearful in a fight, while a soldier or mercenary would be more brave and confident in their abilities. -Final Note- Thank you for reading, I hope this guide proved somewhat useful! Please leave any comments or suggestions you may have, as well as clarifications or corrections to any mistakes. Have fun getting hurt!

The drop looked momentous, the rapidity of the river looked enough to sweep him from his feet. Yet there he stood, his legs outstretched along the rim of the cliff; not too far from the rustic house he had purchased two weeks past from one Count Adam Green. His eyes flicker as he leans back from his rolled over state overlooking the river and hanging bridges below and he stares out towards the healthy tops of the canyon cliffs across from him; his elbow dug into moist dirt as he rests from a hard day of labor. That is what he knew, how to break sweat and produce from his spent time and physical effort something to show; the real outweighing the abstract. An aura seemed to be cast as he is joined by a man with a swarthy complexion. The man runs his gritty fingers through a long and narrow beard as he chuckles upon spooking Sertorius. The man greets him in native tongue, recognisable to Sertorius and they trade niceties. "Yoo' shawld' knaw' thawt' the Khagan is rawlin' in his grave" "Da? Yer' know I am ner' help ter' what plagues him within thar' scape af' drims. We banked from sail an' within few months, the spawn of the Four are pickin' fights and wallawin' in mud like male pigs try'na insist they defendin' honor of the she-pig. In the end, they all sire with tha' 'Urth. How can one man stop this?" "Tha' Khagan hawd' raised a Hurde' in tha' pawst', yoo' shawld' remembur' this! Howevur', it is no lawng'ur yoo'r place tew' thraw' yoo'r hand tew' tha' saddul' an' bridul', yoo' mawst' seek the inwawrd' path." With the last two words, Sertorius ***** an inquisitive brow towards the man bearing merely simple woolen pantaloons, a leather jerkin, and a mere spherical cap atop his shaggy and jet-black hair. They sit together in an odd state of conversation as night falls, the moon rising whilst they engage in terse terms concerning the 'inward path'. As the moon boomerangs to the opposite side from whence it rose, Sertorius stands from the compressed dirt that he laid upon and stares out into the stary horizon that embroiders the land in front of him. "Very well, yer' ter' tell me this may werk'?" The nomad, as imaginary as may have been, seemed to have placed within the heart of Sertorius some earnest knowledge. "Yoo' shawld' seek tew' persuade thaw' pee'pul tew' break ther' swards' intew' ploughhewks', seek tew' better tha' lives awf' tha' livin' rathur' than see haw' many can be subtracted by arru'gawnt' men. This is the path yoo' shawld' take." With that, the nomad turns on his heel and rotates his body with his head held low; upon doing so, his body dissipates. Sertorius dared not look back, but only closes his eyes. ~~~~~~~~~The Idea of the Sophists~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~The Sophisticated Path~~~~~~~~~ The Sophists are those who inspire to become cordial with all, enemy to none. The Sophists have recognized that through the passing of two worlds, people have shirked against the lessons that were obvious in both Aegis and Asulon. They recognise the futility of warring, they addiction towards the desire to own more, to rule more, to command more and compare it nicely to a toddler who endeavors to scoop sand towards them, only to have the sand spread out after a certain point. The Sophists set forth in three manners they deem beneficial: to spread information, to labor on behalf of people no matter their standing, and to build structures that have a function. The Three Paths of a Sophist 1. The path known by the phrase, "To sweat clay into my hands to mold" or simply refered to as "Work of the Sophist" is when Sophists head forth to different areas in Anthos; inspiring to help any sort of people, faction, or nation gather resources. The Sophist or group of Sophists endeavoring to take this path should be wise to ask within the request if they can keep a portion of the resources. It is frowned upon if a Sophist declares this path and works for a faction or nation that they are loyal to. If you as a Sophist request to work under a person or group who are not friendly to possible loyalties you have, you must not show anger; simply turn yourself away and look to seek the path elsewhere. 2. The path known by the phrase, "To turn out knowledge should null all secrets" or simply refered to as "Teaching of the Sophist" is when Sophists work together in a group to gather knowledge from different parts of Anthos and compose what can be called 'newspapers'. These 'newspapers' should inform denizens of Anthos about occurrances, but withhold personal business to individuals. The information to be composed into the newspaper should be written down and kept in safe-keeping. [OOC: Try to keep the information gathering to in-game book items, rather than relying solely on the forums to pass it around] 3. The path known by the phrase, "To raise a roof is to raise the soul" or simply refered to as "Building as a Sophist" is when Sophists work together to renovate or build structures that serve a function; even if that is to shelter people such as homes. Forges, stone-mills, pastures, and more can be idealized and built for any one person, faction, or nation. It is earnest to ask for pay for this, it is desired that a Sophist builds upon his own gathered resources; but can equally build with the helped person's own supply. [OOC: Even though a stone-mill for example doesnt have the best 'MC' function, it allows Rp to take place there and thus can be built. This thread lists quite a few improvements that can be ideally built throughout this path: http://www.lordofthecraft.net/forum/index.php?/topic/57941-system-of-land-control-and-improvements/?hl=levanthus] The Manners of a Sophist A Sophist is someone who seeks a philosophy that favors control over one's consciousness rather than to be manipulated into manners of ill behavior or killing. A Sophist is not a pacifist by any means, but are those who do not hearken to those who have good reason to push the Sophist into combat. A Sophist can be anyone whether a King of a peasant, he obeys an outside hierarchy if present, so if one of the Elves were to become a Sophist; they will support their government as a sign of cooperation rather than anarchic foolishness. The Sophists only hear to the words of the Tender who merely organises larger groups who collectively want to pursue any of the three paths; he is deemed intelligent to not group those who have antagonising loyalties [so no Orcs with Halflings, White Roses with Elfs]. Likewise, those who pursue the Teaching of the Sophist form a hierarchy of their own to organise the manner of releasing information to the public in the forms of official pamphlets. The Head Columnist will see to information being gathered into the final form for release to the public and interprets appropriate pricing. Seekers of News is simply a title given to those pursuing the Teaching Path and collect the information into dossiers [in-game writable books]. Rank and Application Tender: Sertorius Cagan [Gaiusmarius8] Head Columnist for Teaching Path: N/A Seekers of News: N/A

Now upon reading the title you may be wondering some questions. What is this simple guide about? Well this is my way of addressing the general population of Lord of the Craft, my favorite server of all time. Most questions and problems can be solved through roleplay. Now how is this possible you may ask? Well it is quite simple really, roleplay can almost solve everything. You want information on construction progress of a city? Get on the server and roleplay! But what if they are offline? Well that is a simple answer: Use the forums! The forums are one of your best tools and should be utilized. If the server happens to be down or they are offline just send them a roleplay PM or if it addressing a general population then give them a nice topic in the roleplay section of forums. Found here. You see roleplay can easily solve anything related to your character, whether it be the whereabouts of a city. (Remember, no metagaming.) All questions related to roleplay can be solved through roleplay. Please don't metagame. Don't know where the human capital is? Ask a traveler on the Anthos highway. They just might answer your question AND avoid metagaming all together. This specifically addresses newer players, now I know this entire topic is rather tiring and everyone gets it. But new players sometimes forget and get on global OOC and ask questions such as, "Where is x" or "I'm lost, where do I go?" Roleplay is literally the answer to every single problem EXCEPT: List of Common OOC Questions: -All questions about VIP. -All questions about staff positions, the entire concept of staff is strictly for OOC purposes. -Debates -How to configure chat, how to use commands, ect. -Teamspeak related -Clearing up some unclear or confusing RP -Other Off-topic questions -Most applications are OOC (Except for guild or roleplay) I hope this simple guide helped any new player who needs a refreshment on rules and how you can solve most of your problems. From, Nord