Playing the Game

A roleplaying game is somewhere between amateur dramatics and collaborative storytelling. You turn up, create a character to play, and play them! There are no scripts or lines, no set outcomes to what will happen – just a setting, a bunch of other characters to interact with, and some GMs to make sure it all runs smoothly.

Most importantly, roleplaying is about having fun and creating stories with other players. Absolutely no experience is required to play a 'Society Game' (indeed, it's designed to offer an easy route in for new roleplayers), and there will be plenty of supportive people on hand to help you out if you're confused about any aspect of the game. Turn up and enjoy yourself!

Unlike many traditional roleplaying games, White Raccoon has a very limited mechanical system for calculating success or failure; although Quirks and Abilities can help your chances, narrative interest is just as important, if not more so, in deciding whether actions succeed or not.

As with other Society Games, the game is divided between Uptime and Downtime. See below for more details on these.

If you haven't roleplayed before, or you have but not in this kind of game, then there are a few things to keep in mind.

OURPGSoc has a Conduct and Themes (CAT) Policy, which specifies which themes are and aren't allowed to come up in the game (or in some cases themes that can only be handled in certain contexts/need careful signposting). This is to ensure the comfort of everyone involved, so please familiarise yourself with it.

In the time between sessions there will inevitably be lots of talk between players, such as in the optional chats on the OURPGSoc Discord after each session. If you find out any information OC that your character wouldn't have access to IC, then please do your best to avoid using it. Ideally, you should only act on things that your character knows. Doing otherwise is called metagaming.

When roleplaying, getting into character is always fun. However, it is easy to take quarrels and disputes with another character out of sessions and into the real world. Hostility towards other people out of sessions is strongly condemned, so try to remember characters and players are two different things.

Further detail on this can be found in the Conduct and Themes policy.

Uptime refers to the live sessions on Tuesday evenings where players are allowed to post and interact with each other and the game world in the White Raccoon Discord server. The session lasts from 19:00 to 22:00 BST.

During Uptime, you will describe the actions your character takes in the world and act out scenes in real time. Meanwhile GMs will play NPCs, adjudicate the outcome of certain actions taken by players, and take small groups of players on GM-led scenes called Linears, where players will tell GMs what their characters are doing to overcome a specific obstacle, and GMs will narrate the outcome of those actions. Actions you may take during Uptime include:

• Talking to PCs and NPCs in the channels available to you
• Attempting to achieve something, possibly by using your Abilities and Quirks
• Exploring locations represented by location channels
• Going on a Linear run by a GM to investigate a recently fallen Rust Tree

There are various one-word messages players or GMs can send during Uptime to convey a message quickly, either to give OC information or to make the game safer. Please familiarise yourself with what they mean in the Glossary. If you see anyone use one of these Calls during Uptime, please respect it immediately.

All Uptimes will take place on a Discord server dedicated to White Raccoon, an invitation to which you will be sent if your character is accepted into the game. Below is information on various aspects of using the Discord server.

If you ever need to contact a GM during Uptime, either because you think there are errors, you wish to ask questions, or you require adjudication on a certain action, tag a GM in a message with “@GM” or “@<their username>”. The GMs will be listed under the “GM” subheading in the user sidebar on the right-hand side.

During Uptime, you will have access to text channels, both IC and OC. Channels will be listed in the channel sidebar on the left-hand side and will be appropriately named so it is clear what they are for. Channel names always start with a # (hash) symbol. Selecting one will allow you to view them, and if you have permission to do so, type in it. Some channels you may be able to only type in sometimes, or view but not type in.

During the game, new text channels may appear to you, and old ones may disappear. This does not mean they no longer exist, but you no longer can view them. This may reflect a change in location, status, or another in-game occurrence that would help or hinder your communications with others. You may find pinned messages in channels: these will be pinned by GMs, and represent information you gain upon entering the channel (e.g. location description).

IC channels will represent physical locations in the game world, which will allow your character to “go” to these locations and for you to start describing what they do in them. You should only be typing in one IC channel at a time. Most players use italicised text (this can be achieved by putting one asterisks around your text on Discord *like so*) to narrate the actions your character takes, normal text for speech, and [text in square brackets] for OC comments.

If you wish to travel to a new IC location, you may do so simply by pressing on a new IC channel and start typing in there. For locations which are within the same region (e.g. between the Terrace and the Park), it is assumed the distance is short enough that your character can simply walk/swim/fly to the new location. If the distances are between regions (e.g. between the Plains and City Centre), fast travel is achieved via your character utilising the Pigeon Service to fly you over there. You are welcome to describe this interaction before switching channels, or you may simply switch.

OC channels will be a mix of game information, announcements, a place to get help with technical difficulties, and shitposting.

You will also have a personal channel which only you and the GM team can see. If you ever need to contact the GM team without other players being able to see what you write, this is the place to do that.

Discord allows you the option to create a thread to contain a conversation without cluttering up a channel. However, threads should not be used for IC conversations or information on the server. This is because GMs are not automatically notified when a new thread is created, and because it is very easy for players entering a channel to not realise there are ongoing threads. If you wish to have a private conversation with another character, you should move to an empty channel and describe your characters as whispering or trying not to be seen, but be aware that no IC conversations will be fully private: other characters may always enter the same channel and join in the conversation if they wish.

On Discord, you can spoiler text by surrounding it with two vertical pipes, ||like so||. This should be used only when discussing sensitive topics which are allowed in the CAT policy, but you feel some players may not wish to see. You should content warn the nature of the text in the spoilers before using spoilered text.

Spoilered text should not be used for any other reason. If you wish to have a private conversation with another character, you should move to an empty channel and describe your characters as whispering or trying not to be seen, but be aware that no IC conversations will be fully private: other characters may always enter the same channel and join in the conversation if they wish.

The GMs will use a Discord bot called Plural Kit to type as NPCs. This will cause a BOT symbol to appear next to the NPC's name. Note that this is OC information, not IC.

If you wish to respond to an NPC, you should @ the GM who plays that NPC in your response to ensure we don't miss it. If you're not sure who the GM who plays that NPC is, you can react to the NPC's message with the bell emoji. This will cause the bot to send a message that notifies the GM that someone has replied to their NPC.

Please be aware that GMs may be playing multiple NPCs in different channels, so please give us time to respond to your messages.

Although on Discord you have the ability to send messages directly to other users, please do not use this to send IC messages. This is because GMs cannot see direct messages and need to know what people are sending each other to properly run and moderate the game. Direct messages should only be used if you need to contact a specific GM in confidence.

Downtimes represent the time between Uptimes. Downtimes will last 2 weeks OC and 1 month IC. During Downtime, you will send IC emails to other characters and write your Turnsheet, which explains what your character is going to try and achieve during Downtime.

As with previous Society Games, we have set up an email system which allows players to communicate with each other and with GMs after a session ends; IC, these emails represent in-person conversations between characters. Each character has their own email address which is based on their name – the complete list of in-character email addresses can be found on the Player Characters page.

GMs are copied into all IC emails so as to keep track of plans and developing themes within the game, but please bear in mind that GMs may not be able to read all emails in detail due to the number of emails often sent by players.

You can also direct emails to GMs if you'd like to ask us anything you didn't get round to mentioning during Uptime, and this should be your main method of OC communication with GMs once a session ends – we won't necessarily be checking our Discord messages between sessions! IC communication with NPCs can also be done this way by emailing the GM who plays that character. In either case, please add “FAO: GM/NPC name” to the subject line so that we don't miss your message!

If you're having trouble receiving emails from GMs or players before or during the game, try checking your Junk inbox – if game emails tend to be filtered out, you may want to whitelist the 'whiteraccoon.oxfordrpg.com' domain.

Finally, please note that your OC email will never be displayed to other players when you email them, as any emails sent by you will appear to come from your in-character email address. However, other metadata contained in the email may be visible, such as whatever name you've set for your email. Further information can be found in the Privacy Policy.

We ask that all email exchanges be wrapped up by 22:59 on the Thursday after session, one hour before the Turnsheet deadline. This is partly so that no one's Turnsheet plans end up changing at the last minute, and partly so that everyone can get a break from their inbox for the rest of the week!

A Turnsheet details what you would like to do in Downtime after session and after IC emails have taken place. In White Raccoon players get a single Specific Action per turn and several General Actions to tell the GMs what their character is doing for the intervening month between Uptimes. The GMs will then respond before the following Uptime with information about how your character's choices turn out.

Your Turnsheet and the response given are only visible to you and the GMs (so feel free to detail all your secret evil plans and betrayals if you feel so inclined).

Once your character has been approved by the GMs, we will send you a link to your private user page – this can also be found by clicking the human-shaped icon at the very top right of the Wiki. At the bottom of your user page should be a series of red links, named 'Turnsheet #'. These link to pages that don't exist yet, so when you are ready to begin writing up your Actions, click on the link for that week and then click the 'pencil sign' icon on the right-hand toolbar to get started. Hovering over it will bring up the 'Create this page' dialogue.

Once created, the Turnsheet page will have a handy template to save you time and to allow your GM easy reading. You don’t have to stick to it 100%, but similar layouts allows us to quickly and easily see what you are attempting to do with your time. (Please don't delete {{tag>turnsheetX}} at the bottom of the page or we won't be notified when you've submitted it!)

While we very much enjoy reading your writings, it's usually best to keep your Turnsheets concise so we can clearly see the focus of your Action; a single sentence with no detail obviously isn't very helpful, but neither is a very long plan that aims to do too much in one go! Bullet points may be helpful.

When you're happy with your Turnsheet, click the save button in the bottom left and you'll have a Turnsheet that both you and all the GMs can see. It’s worthwhile doing a quick preview before saving, to check that everything reads how you want it to, but don’t forget to then save.

You can continue to edit your Turnsheet until the deadline (23:59 on Thursday) as nothing will be taken as final by the GMs until that point.

The Specific Action should be one thing or goal your character is trying to achieve during the Downtime period that you want the GMs to write a significant amount about. Specific Actions are similar to Major Actions in other Society Games, but we have changed the name to make it clear that these actions don't have to be the thing your character is spending the majority of their time doing, but rather are whatever you think is most important to them and their story. Examples include:

• Exploring a specific location in an attempt to gain knowledge of certain events
• Investigating other characters or participating in PvP
• Having an introspective moment
• Working with the Helping Paw to convince residents of the City to work together to prepare for Winter

Your Actions should include an overarching goal of what you want to achieve, a plan of how you intend to achieve it, and a note of what use of Abilities and Quirks you think might be useful to or affect the action. Be sure to note other PCs or NPCs who are involved in your Action in the relevant section of the template too!

Try to be as concise as possible when writing your plans. Don’t try to achieve too much with one Action and remember that longer plans don’t always mean better plans.

If in doubt, ask. Please contact the GMs and we will do our best to help with any Action or Ability/Quirk based queries you may have.

A General Action is something that is either minor or relatively easy to achieve, even if it would require much of the Downtime to do so. It should not advance the plot significantly. General Actions are similar to Minor Actions in other Society Games, but we have changed the name to make it clear that these actions can cover a longer period of time than the Specific Action, but that the GMs will not write up much for it (a few sentences or short paragraphs at most). Examples include:

• Training flying to be able to reach higher up the Grey Trees
• Gathering berries from the forest in preparation of Winter
• Gifting or trading items with other characters
• Being friendly to an NPC over many days to try to build up a rapport with them

You can have as many General Actions as you want within reason, but they should each be limited to a few sentences of description. The GMs may ignore some General Actions if they become too numerous or plot relevant.

If you are giving something to another player please note this in your General Actions, even if the exchange occurred as part of your Specific Action. It can be helpful to list any items you are expecting to receive, but if you put it in your Turnsheet and the sender does not Turnsheet to give the item to you, the response will likely be along the lines of “You wait patiently, but it doesn't turn up”.

The deadline for Turnsheets is 23:59 on the Thursday after session. This is a strict deadline as the GM team need time to read through and prepare in advance for our meeting on Sunday afternoon. We do know life gets in the way sometimes and late Turnsheets do happen, but you must request an extension if you are expecting to hand in your Turnsheet late so we can accommodate it into our plans. Failure to do so will likely incur the considerable wrath of the GM team.

We will aim to get a response to your Turnsheet to you on the Monday before each session. These responses will be added to the end of your submitted Turnsheet on the Wiki. Your GM will email you when they have completed your Turnsheet response, but it's worth checking your Turnsheet to be sure. If you have any questions about your Turnsheet response, please contact your GM before the start of the session and we'll try to clear everything up.