Nevada Communes wrote:Howdy y'all, I would like to ask a question about role-playing-conventions.
I'm new here so - like obviously - I'm not sure about all the rules and conventions and not, and it mostly seems to be laissez-faire "RP as you like." There also don't seem to be many rules here, which I find strange having come from a character-based forum with an abundance of rules regarding characters' statistics and backstories, and the number of characters you can have etc. That being said, there does seem to exist a culture of precedent and convention that and I would like to try to mostly follow these. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
I want to ask firstly about military size and numbers. I see a lot of people making beautiful armies with differing levels of detail. And I know the official answer is '"use whatever equipment and numbers you like" as per the advice threads and all that but I also notice a culture of derision towards those who literally just spam abnormally massive armies. The official answer aside, I would like to know what is more or less considered in the RP community based on context, and what kinds of weapons I can use in Modern-Tech (as this is the modern-tech thread, and I think my nation falls into the purview of 'modern') and where my army goes from simply big to godmodding.
Secondly, I would like to ask about characters. I'm unsure of how to role-play nations. This concept is fascinating, but even after reading countless threads, I'm a little intimidated in actually getting started. I'd like to think myself a decent writer, so I don't think there would be issues there, but when is it appropriate to switch between character and national/third person narrative. As in, say I want to role-play my army attacking a rebel position: do I write that from the perspective from a soldier in the attack, a rebel, or just as an objective narrator? I know the answer isn't set in stone but any advice would be helpful.
Finally, I would like to ask about location. I want to set my nation in the continental US. I know the official answer is, again, to just wish everything away, but I really would like to get a good gague [sic] on my actual concrete location from nations I intend to interact with. Like, I'm thinking of getting involved in this one RP but my response would change entirely if it was my neighbor or if it was 5432424234 miles away. What can I do regarding this?
I’m always glad to see someone new pop up around here who wants to be a part of the nation RP community. Welcome aboard!
The process of getting involved in nation RP has a number of fundamental similarities to the process of getting involved in character RP. In a character RP you start with a basic concept, such as a set of tropes or classifications you want to apply to your character. Successful nation roleplayers often start out the same way by coming up with a “thumbnail sketch” of their fictitious civilization. I do not know what your overall nation concept is, but I assume from your other posts in this thread that your goal is to sketch out a country in which the population’s dominant culture is inspired by the RL American West. Your account name leads me to believe that you are looking for it to be mostly rural, defined by small towns far inland from any nearby oceans, and the “Nevada” part makes me imagine that a majority of its territory is mountainous, arid terrain. My guesses may be a bit off base, but I think I have captured your nation’s “essence” pretty well.
Some roleplayers have a bit of trouble with this part in that they might struggle to define what they want their main inspirations and influences to be; however, I don’t think you are suffering from this problem. It’s the challenge of completing subsequent phases—determining what you want your nation’s
people, values, governance structure, culture, economy, and foreign policy to be—that often strains the imaginations of newer players. This process, often called worldbuilding, has no set series of rules or conventions, but having a logical point A-to-point B progression to follow makes the process easier.
My first piece of advice in building up your new nation is to create a one-page “character sheet” for your nation concept. You put the in-character name you want it to be known by at the top and then provide a short description. Your description section should answer the following question: If I lived in my fictional nation and decided to travel around the world, how would I describe it in fifty words or less? If you can cut your description down to twenty-five words or less, more power to you. Simplicity helps, especially at this stage.
The next section should be titled “People” and describe what your people are like. What is your demographic inspiration? Do you want to roleplay with a large population or a small one? (Sometimes asking yourself if you want to roleplay as a global superpower or a microstate can help answer that last question.) Do you want your nation to be multicultural or have just one culture? Ask yourself basic questions like these and come up with simple answers you can use as “character notes” for your nation profile.
The third section of your nation profile page should describe your nation’s culture and values. The easiest way to figure this part out is to create a separate document titled “You Know You are From Nation X When…” and make a list.
Here is mine if you want an example. If you can summarize the results of this exercise, you will have a figurative goldmine of information you can refer to in your roleplays down the road.
Your geography section relies purely on your imagination and a few basic constraints. If you want to roleplay your nation as a hidden country that stays neutral in world affairs, it helps if it’s surrounded by mountains or water or other natural barriers. If you want to roleplay your nation as a great commercial trading power, you will want your country to have a lot of coastline and warm-water ports. In other words, make a rough draft of your geography concept and check it against your people and culture. If you cannot realistically see your people (who are products of their environment) acting in a manner consistent with people who grow up in the environment you just brainstormed, you need to change one or the other to bring the two into harmony. For example, people who have grown up in a strategic chokepoint for hundreds of years are not likely to develop into a civilization of diehard pacifists.
Your nation profile’s government section should be based off what you came up with in the previous sections. Take a moment to think about what sort of government can realistically arise in your country. If your country is populated by people who aren’t very religious, it is unlikely to be a theocracy. If your country has few resources or a poorly-developed economy, it is unlikely that its leaders will be controlled by robber-barons. If your country is populated by pacifists and has no real enemies, it is unlikely to be ruled by a junta. You should also ask yourself questions like “How big is my nation’s central government?”, “How is it organized and structured?”, “How do its various components work together with one another to make things happen?”, “How much does it like to meddle in local affairs?”, and “what are its main priorities?”
Your nation’s economy should be based off its people and geography. In simple terms, your people can only play the economic hand they have been dealt. They can improve their economy by trading with other countries the way a poker player improves his or her hand by getting new cards from the dealer, but it’s regarded as noobish (i.e. bad form) around here to deal yourself four aces and a joker straight out of the gate. Your government’s foreign policy will largely be determined by economic and cultural factors as it will be by politics. A country with a weak economy should not go around ticking off all of its neighbors over every little thing unless it wants to get beaten in a fight. Likewise, a country’s military arsenal is a product of what it can afford to build, buy, or steal (especially when it comes to intellectual property like weapon designs).
When it comes to dreaming up the basic details of your nation’s military, you can take one of two approaches. As Allanea wrote in
one of his guides:
There are two major ways to do it in NS.
One is top-down, and the other is bottom up. In the top-down method, you as a player decide what kind of military you want your nation to have, and then worldbuild the relevant national factors to lead to a relevant doctrine.
Example: You want to do lots of naval warfare RP. You need to come up with reasons your nation has a disproportionately powerful navy. Perhaps it has developed on a major island chain, or perhaps it has a globe-spanning trade empire and has required a navy to protect its sea lanes. Or perhaps it has suffered a national humiliation two generations ago after being defeated in a war by a nation with a larger navy, leading the culture to overcompensate.
The other is bottom-up. You contemplate what your nation is like, and what do its people perceive itself as, and therefore design its military doctrine accordingly.
Example: Your nation has a extensive land border with the nation of Suslikland. While Suslikland has been at peace with your nation for 50 years, your people are still paranoid about the threat of Suslik armor, and therefore military doctrine in your nation lists the Susliks as the Probable Strategic Opponent. Defensive measures are taken to limit the ability of Suslik Armored Divisions to penetrate your borders, and your leadership invests heavily in tanks and anti-tank weaponry.
I personally prefer the bottom-up method for roleplayers working on their first nation concept as it will provide them superior quality control and precision on determining just what they want to be able to do in their RP threads. Conversely, I find the top-down method more efficient for roleplayers who already have nation RP experience and want to create their second or third NS nation. The choice is ultimately yours.
Please let me know if my advice helps you at all int he coming days.