Verb:SWEAR/saved posts

Category: General Roleplaying
Topic: Roleplaying Verb Discussion
Message #: 3959
Author: GS4-OZIAZ
Date: 05/1/2008 3:51:06 PM
Subject: Re: Signature verbs/swears

I don't do signature verbs, but I do know about the swears. It's odd that I wrote up very clear instructions for GMs but didn't make them available to players except in posts that are now long buried. In any case, here's the skinny on SWEAR MINE (noting, however, that there have been discussions to revamp the way they work and this may not always be the way they work).

Custom swears are pretty restrictive in how they can be constructed. The basic structure is this:

You **second-person verb** <<etc>>. Ozias **third-person verb** <<etc>>. You swear at a person|critter|thing, **verb-ing** <<etc>>.

The decision I made in creating the code, in order to limit the amount of text we needed to store, was that the <<etc>> had to be the same in each instance. That means that you couldn't have any pronouns in the section I called the "substance of the swear."

For example, "You jump up and down on your left leg." is a fine thing, but "Ozias jumps up and down on your left leg." is a different kettle of fish. Some players have, over the years, asked for swears that are wonky in their output to themselves, in order to achieve the result in the third person that they are looking for, but this is not allowed. We don't want any wonky messaging going out to anyone, even if you chose it yourself.

In addition, standard QC rules apply in terms of not forcing emotion or action on other people. You can act, speak, emote, or all three at once, but you can't impose on others around you. Also, normal standards for good taste apply, especially when it comes to the words you chose.

I'm probably forgetting some stuff, but that'll move the discussion along a bit.

~Ozias

"Whatever bubbles, bubbles up."