Roleplaying Tips and Suggestions

[Halakriya]

1a) Are there threads for writing prompts? As I recall, a lot of old F&NI threads could be used for this purpose, although they rarely were: any topic along the lines of "what would your nation do in X circumstances", "how would your citizens react to Y", "what would happen to my character in your nation", etc, could occasionally promote a greater degree of creativity than the usual one-line responses and allow people to write, essentially, short stories following that prompt.

1b) If there are not: would anyone be interested in a series of threads offering writing prompts? (Also, would this be legal under forum rules?)

2) Corollary to the above: is there a general NS writing discussion discord/IRC? If not, would there be any interest in such a thing?

I guess this technically isn't roleplay but it's not especially different from the various news/nation management threads: all writing would be canon within the context of one's nation/region/etc, or have some relation to it. (Or, I suppose, to whatever non-NS RPs people have previously participated in via P2TM.)

[Neu Engollon]

1a) Are there threads for writing prompts? As I recall, a lot of old F&NI threads could be used for this purpose, although they rarely were: any topic along the lines of "what would your nation do in X circumstances", "how would your citizens react to Y", "what would happen to my character in your nation", etc, could occasionally promote a greater degree of creativity than the usual one-line responses and allow people to write, essentially, short stories following that prompt.

Literally the bulk of the threads on F&NI now. I have to think you have found them by now. They didn't go anywhere in your absence.

1b) If there are not: would anyone be interested in a series of threads offering writing prompts? (Also, would this be legal under forum rules?)

Again, there's plenty. Do some digging in F&NI. I wouldn't recreate the wheel as there are a lot of ongoing threads of that type and they frown upon people making redundant threads of the same topics.

2) Corollary to the above: is there a general NS writing discussion discord/IRC? If not, would there be any interest in such a thing?

There probably is a Discord, but I can't answer to that as I've never been on it. There is the Arts & Fiction forum which is like an OOC counterpart to F&NI, and also a discussion forum for pop culture franchises and other artistic endeavors. It's always seemed very supportive of writers to get feedback.

I guess this technically isn't roleplay but it's not especially different from the various news/nation management threads: all writing would be canon within the context of one's nation/region/etc, or have some relation to it. (Or, I suppose, to whatever non-NS RPs people have previously participated in via P2TM.)

Again, if you're making your own canon thread for your nation(s), that's one thing and you should definitely do that, but if it's of a broader general purpose for all NSers it would be safe to assume that it already exists and you're just duplicating someone else's efforts. Check out those mentioned forums, and I'm sure they will clue you in to a Discord if it exists. IRC isn't really used much these days by NS players, although I wouldn't discount it entirely, the bulk of NS has moved on to Discord.

[Halakriya]

Thanks anyway. I realised after writing that that I'd only really glanced at the first page of F&NI and seen mostly embassy exchanges, news threads and lineart threads, and had therefore dismissed it, but after putting down my question spent a few minutes looking back through previous pages and realised that a lot of the types of threads I was thinking of still exist. Should have deleted the post while I still could, but didn't think of that, unfortunately.

[Kaedeki]

Hi, I was thinking of posting a thread that would contain all my RP series/works. However, it’d only be solo work without any collaborations. Looking at this sub-forum I realised most RP series here involved more than one nation, so I was wondering if the thread I had in mind would be suitable here.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Hi, I was thinking of posting a thread that would contain all my RP series/works. However, it’d only be solo work without any collaborations. Looking at this sub-forum I realised most RP series here involved more than one nation, so I was wondering if the thread I had in mind would be suitable here.

These are allowed and are typically called Maintenance Threads.

[Kaedeki]

Hi, I was thinking of posting a thread that would contain all my RP series/works. However, it’d only be solo work without any collaborations. Looking at this sub-forum I realised most RP series here involved more than one nation, so I was wondering if the thread I had in mind would be suitable here.

These are allowed and are typically called Maintenance Threads.

Ah, that's good to know. Thanks!

[A m e n r i a]

These are allowed and are typically called Maintenance Threads.

Ah, that's good to know. Thanks!

An example would be the one in my sig.

[Cypress City]

How do I write and format stuff like this best again and expand this into a cohesive world-narrative? I just vomited this onto a page as a collection of barebones key points and descriptions for a mental image I've had for a few weeks. Plz help and give feedback thx I apologise for length.

Plus do you think it would work to try and make an MP worldbuilding and RP-focussed region trying to get people to RP these powers that aren't really MT and have kind of kooky cultures compared to normal NS nations, with The Rift and mountains being weird free-for-alls getting buttfucked by the powers (proxy wars and colonisation = content) and Wildwest being an insane unpopulated frontier?

[Cypress City]

Or maybe just design a region based off geography and let people colloratively workdbuild in the landscape? Civilisations, crops, local species etc. I know, it's super crude right now. They can choose where they are, certain landforms are inevitably gonna have certain climates, but beyond that, who knows? Doesn't look like my first writeup would be too likely anyway, that long supercontinental subduction range will probably be a full-on chain of ranges and plateaus like an Andes, Rockies and Mexican Plateau stuck together and fertile zones in each hemisphere are rather isolated by Atacama, Central Asia and Sahara-like desert, so I guess it'd be a good region for heterogeneity and creativity if people designed to join in on a fleshed-out Scald.

The main problem with Scald is a lot of its normal-level land will probably have to be a big shitty desert, since people can't actually cross the hot dense air "basins" which are there instead of oceans without air travel and I wanna have a nice big continent starting off for people, but at least that air will carry vapor up steep eroded slopes and cause rain at the margins of "continental shelves". There'll probably be a lot of rainshadows cuz land is so high so idk, but I guess that will be the gist of Scald. Geography is unideal, no oceans, people making nations can do their thing in response to that. Dung powered steamships in big enorrheic salt lakes? Airship wars? Abiotic natural gas from the mantle rock meeting water and releasing protons, with helium from heavy elements to boot?

Rework the whole geography of Scald to make a bunch of isthmuses, ridges, choke points, subduction arcs and island chains? Gonna have to read more of my geography textbook ngl. Gonna make the axial tilt 21 degrees or so so there's slightly less insolation at higher latitudes during summer than on erff, maybe that + air getting thinner and colder quicker as you go up due to higher gravity will encourage icecaps to creep down eroded mountain ranges and create fresh dammed lakes of meltwater

[Cypress City]

Or maybe just design a region based off geography and let people colloratively workdbuild in the landscape? Civilisations, crops, local species etc. I know, it's super crude right now. They can choose where they are, certain landforms are inevitably gonna have certain climates, but beyond that, who knows? Doesn't look like my first writeup would be too likely anyway, that long supercontinental subduction range will probably be a full-on chain of ranges and plateaus like an Andes, Rockies and Mexican Plateau stuck together and fertile zones in each hemisphere are rather isolated by Atacama, Central Asia and Sahara-like desert, so I guess it'd be a good region for heterogeneity and creativity if people designed to join in on a fleshed-out Scald.

The main problem with Scald is a lot of its normal-level land will probably have to be a big shitty desert, since people can't actually cross the hot dense air "basins" which are there instead of oceans without air travel and I wanna have a nice big continent starting off for people, but at least that air will carry vapor up steep eroded slopes and cause rain at the margins of "continental shelves". There'll probably be a lot of rainshadows cuz land is so high so idk, but I guess that will be the gist of Scald. Geography is unideal, no oceans, people making nations can do their thing in response to that. Dung powered steamships in big enorrheic salt lakes? Airship wars? Abiotic natural gas from the mantle rock meeting water and releasing protons, with helium from heavy elements to boot?

Rework the whole geography of Scald to make a bunch of isthmuses, ridges, choke points, subduction arcs and island chains? Gonna have to read more of my geography textbook ngl. Gonna make the axial tilt 21 degrees or so so there's slightly less insolation at higher latitudes during summer than on erff, maybe that + air getting thinner and colder quicker as you go up due to higher gravity will encourage icecaps to creep down eroded mountain ranges and create fresh dammed lakes of meltwater

also I accidentally represented the polar cells wrong lmao that's embarrassing

[Makko Oko]

So, I have an idea for an international box office organization, would you guys be open to that? It'd be similar to the International Broadcasting Alliance (IBA) except specifically for movies and box office channels (Ex. HBO)

[Neu Engollon]

So, I have an idea for an international box office organization, would you guys be open to that? It'd be similar to the International Broadcasting Alliance (IBA) except specifically for movies and box office channels (Ex. HBO)

It's a pretty cool idea. I know there have been cinema companies created in GE&T in the past (OPs have long since CTE'd), but I don't know that there was ever an overarching international organization for cinema on NS. Worth searching first, however.

[Avonley]

So, I have an idea for an international box office organization, would you guys be open to that? It'd be similar to the International Broadcasting Alliance (IBA) except specifically for movies and box office channels (Ex. HBO)

I love the idea of an international box office. I think that the idea is amazing. How would you actually start that though? I am new to NS so please explain how you are going to go through with this idea of your. Thanks.

[Laka Strolistandiler]

Any advices on writing (and roleplaying) a relatively authoritarian-democrat-ish US? I was thinking of doing my next main nation as a TNO-based HC US with a “extremely big government” type of thing- the Republican-Democratic party is pretty much in the same position as LDP in Japan “a 1.5 party state”, with the government being in kahoots with the military (who play a very large part in the politics- basically as large one as the MIC plays IRL- because the military essentially is the MIC). Other than that political power will be more concentrated in President’s hands (also term limits went up from two terms to four), and the population is largely dependent on the state spoon-feeding them through UBI, Medicare For All and other cool programs (no, not because of the poor being lazy but because of the economy functioning because of the UBI and extremely large governmental sector). Many large corporations are something like Crown Corporations in Canada, for example.

[Wochaystein]

Any advices on writing (and roleplaying) a relatively authoritarian-democrat-ish US? I was thinking of doing my next main nation as a TNO-based HC US with a “extremely big government” type of thing- the Republican-Democratic party is pretty much in the same position as LDP in Japan “a 1.5 party state”, with the government being in kahoots with the military (who play a very large part in the politics- basically as large one as the MIC plays IRL- because the military essentially is the MIC). Other than that political power will be more concentrated in President’s hands (also term limits went up from two terms to four), and the population is largely dependent on the state spoon-feeding them through UBI, Medicare For All and other cool programs (no, not because of the poor being lazy but because of the economy functioning because of the UBI and extremely large governmental sector). Many large corporations are something like Crown Corporations in Canada, for example.

Here are some guiding questions:
1. How pervasive is the military and government in everyday life?
2. Characters have many different motivations (want to be rich, harness the MIC to pursue their pet project, or just wants to live a quiet life). How would they achieve that within your hypothetical US's zeitgeist?
3. What are the more immediate implications of UBI and other social programs in everyday life? A poor citizen will approach it differently from middle-class or rich counterpart.
4. What tensions and conflicts are ongoing? How stable is the equilibrium this USA enjoys?
5. What real-world analogs do you have in mind?

[Laka Strolistandiler]

Any advices on writing (and roleplaying) a relatively authoritarian-democrat-ish US? I was thinking of doing my next main nation as a TNO-based HC US with a “extremely big government” type of thing- the Republican-Democratic party is pretty much in the same position as LDP in Japan “a 1.5 party state”, with the government being in kahoots with the military (who play a very large part in the politics- basically as large one as the MIC plays IRL- because the military essentially is the MIC). Other than that political power will be more concentrated in President’s hands (also term limits went up from two terms to four), and the population is largely dependent on the state spoon-feeding them through UBI, Medicare For All and other cool programs (no, not because of the poor being lazy but because of the economy functioning because of the UBI and extremely large governmental sector). Many large corporations are something like Crown Corporations in Canada, for example.

Here are some guiding questions:
1. How pervasive is the military and government in everyday life?
2. Characters have many different motivations (want to be rich, harness the MIC to pursue their pet project, or just wants to live a quiet life). How would they achieve that within your hypothetical US's zeitgeist?
3. What are the more immediate implications of UBI and other social programs in everyday life? A poor citizen will approach it differently from middle-class or rich counterpart.
4. What tensions and conflicts are ongoing? How stable is the equilibrium this USA enjoys?
5. What real-world analogs do you have in mind?

Thank you, will definitely use this to make the nation more realistic

[BYZE]

Helped A lot thanks!

[Vragda]

Am I need to be in a Worldbuilding themed region to start RP? What are the terms for RP? Thanks.

[Rhodevus]

Am I need to be in a Worldbuilding themed region to start RP? What are the terms for RP? Thanks.

Hello and welcome to nationstates! Roleplaying can be done by anybody in the forums. The forums themselves are not region specific, and so you can roleplay and start RPs with anyone regardless of region you are located. As you spend more time on nationstates, you may find individuals who you prefer to RP with, and so can move to their regions, or create a new one. Or, you can move to any region you would like, to find a group of people already roleplaying. So, to answer your first question, you do not need to be in a specific region to start an RP or participate in one.

As for your second question, that is very specific on the type of RP you'd like to join, or start. Each subforum has its own roleplay specifics, and luckily, people have created guides to roleplaying in each subforum. Most of the guides are linked to the top (with the exclamation mark), so you can find them easily. Those are the best places to start. Even this exact thread in its OP includes some guidelines to types of roleplays and how to start a roleplay.

Good luck!

[Vragda]

Am I need to be in a Worldbuilding themed region to start RP? What are the terms for RP? Thanks.

Hello and welcome to nationstates! Roleplaying can be done by anybody in the forums. The forums themselves are not region specific, and so you can roleplay and start RPs with anyone regardless of region you are located. As you spend more time on nationstates, you may find individuals who you prefer to RP with, and so can move to their regions, or create a new one. Or, you can move to any region you would like, to find a group of people already roleplaying. So, to answer your first question, you do not need to be in a specific region to start an RP or participate in one.

As for your second question, that is very specific on the type of RP you'd like to join, or start. Each subforum has its own roleplay specifics, and luckily, people have created guides to roleplaying in each subforum. Most of the guides are linked to the top (with the exclamation mark), so you can find them easily. Those are the best places to start. Even this exact thread in its OP includes some guidelines to types of roleplays and how to start a roleplay.

Good luck!

Thanks!

[Delitai]

Hi can anyone help me with inserting an image in a Factbook? I want to put my Leader's picture but it only shows the link

[Rhodevus]

Hi can anyone help me with inserting an image in a Factbook? I want to put my Leader's picture but it only shows the link

you need to use the [img][./img] code rather than [url][.url]. there are some maximum sizing requirements that usually come up when you click preview

[Delitai]

Hi can anyone help me with inserting an image in a Factbook? I want to put my Leader's picture but it only shows the link

you need to use the [img][./img] code rather than [url][.url]. there are some maximum sizing requirements that usually come up when you click preview

Thank you so much!