The P2TM Times: Issue Six is Up!

[The P2TM Times]

Introduction Welcome to the issue thread of the P2TM Times! I am your host, the Starlight, Founder and Editor-in-Chief. I came up with this in the Council to the Multiverse thanks to suggestions from Vancon and Temp. At first I had planned for this to be a simple newsletter, outlining some RPs for people to check out, but I've expanded my horizons. I've received a lot of positive feedback, and I hope this will be a great addition to the P2TM community in the issues to come. We've got a large, but excellent editor team, with Zarkenis Ultima, Nature-Spirits, TriStates, Cerillium, The Templar High Council, New Jordslag and Alleniana. Some few things that I need to get out of the way....First of all, the P2TM Times not official in any capacity, this is not of the mods or mentors, I came up with this with the help of those above. Also, I've created a discussion thread, located here. The discussion thread is for commenting on the current issues, asking about things, and volunteering for articles. Also the discussion threads will contain links to each of the issues. Without further ado, let's get rolling! Issue Two Issue Three Issue Four Issue Five Issue Six

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue One: Page 1, Since 2015 Tuesday, April 28, 2015 The State of the Multiverse By The Starlight Hello everyone! We're nearing quite an active RP season, the summer, from my understanding. If you want to launch an RP, this may be an optimal time. On to RPs. What I've seen a lot of are Game of Thrones RPs popping up, probably as GoT's latest season is coming out soon. Let's see, there's Ice and Fire: A New Era, by Arana, though it's still an interest thread. There's also a new IC for Toronina's Game of Thrones RP, along with Ubilia's GoT: Tragedy of Ashford RP, Nuxipal's A Song of Ice and Fire - Interregnum, of the Quendi's In an Age of Dragons RP and finally, Alotopia's region RP, A World of Ice and Fire. Now that is a lot! It's good to be a Game of Thrones fan on P2TM apparently. Moving on. If you didn't know, the RP that never truly dies is back once more, with Infinite Justice: Beyond! Another superhero esque RP is BlackDeath27's Pandora's Requiem. And there's also Asterdan's Fall of the Portal, the ultimate multiversal RP where you RP as yourself entering the Portal to the Multiverse. Oh, and Adventures through the Multiverse, basically the new DOTM(Death of the Multiverse, really the first big multiversal RP), but with better quality of posts. It's headed by Discords Equstria. As for police/military RPs there's Cylarn's Use of Force, The Athena Program by Vancon and Orbital Police Corps- Unlimited by Brechalht. Another Private military company(PMC) RP is Ontorisa's Operation Blackwatch. We've also got a reboot for Of Grades and Grenades, here, called From Rifles and Roses, by TriStates, along with yet another iteration of Sylvan Academy here and Kassaran's mysterious RP, ARCHADEUS; Humanity Reborn, taking place in the town of Staffield. For historical/modern RPs, P2TM has a wide selection, as always. There's Iron and Steel, an alternate 19th century RP, 2015 - The 3rd World War, and 1821: Raise the Tricolour. For fantasy RPs, there's some of my own creations, such as To Fell an Empire 3.0, a medieval RP, and The Way of Kings, a fantasy RP based on the fantastic ongoing books series by Brandon Sanderson. It might be a bit wordy for some, as there's quite a bit to understand about the world, but I've simplified as much as possible, and will continue doing so. I'm also dredging my mind looking for a good plot for another Tolkien RP, but I've come up blank so far. Feel free to TG me if you've got any. In other news, the end of Elfen High has begun, the epilogue beginning with a fantastic post by Khan, found here, Personification Life, Elementals and Children of Infinity are still chugging along as ever Well, that's all I've got. If you've got any suggestions of things to add to this, or you want one of your RPs added to the list, TG The Starlight or post here. Until next time, farewell! Featured RPs List: Game of Thrones RPs: Ice and Fire: A New Era Game of Thrones RP by Toronina GoT: Tragedy of Ashford RP A Song of Ice and Fire - Interregnum In an Age of Dragons RP A World of Ice and Fire Multiversal RPs: Infinite Justice: Beyond! Pandora's Requiem. Fall of the Portal Adventures through the Multiverse Police/Military/PMC RPs: Use of Force The Athena Program Orbital Police Corps- Unlimited Operation Blackwatch Reboots: From Rifles and Roses Sylvan Academy: A New Dawn Other RPs: ARCHADEUS; Humanity Reborn Historical RPs: Iron and Steel 2015 - The 3rd World War 1821: Raise the Tricolour Fantasy RPs: To Fell an Empire 3.0 The Way of Kings Classic/Longlived RPs: Elfen High Personification Life Elementals Children of Infinity

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue One: Page 2, Since 2015 Tuesday, April 28, 2015 A Character Creation Guide (For P2TM) By Charmera Characters are the meat of a roleplay, the lifeblood of RPs. They are the glue that holds things together, the meat to the roleplay sandwich, the fuel and the gears which keep RPs going. Without good characters, a roleplay will not function or it will cease to be a "roleplay" in the sense of the word. This is a guide to helping you make them. What about nation roleplays? I hear you ask. Well, firstly this article talks about P2TM in which a good number of the rps are character based and secondly I feel like nations are characters to some extent. They have personalities, they have histories, they have wants and needs and they interact with other nations as characters interact. So some of the advice on this guide could be translated to nation rping, but for the majority I'm going to be focusing on just characters for now. Characters can be hard to make, depending on your experience in role playing or fiction writing, and good ones harder still. Sometimes it's difficult to make one that sticks out or makes an impression. Sometimes it can be hard to make a character you can and want to roleplay for an extended period of time. Sometimes it can be hard to break the mold and write something you've never tried before. Most often, it's just hard because you don't have the experience. This guide is not going to work miracles. It's mostly here to provide a framework and help guide new players as well as bring up ideas and tips you may not have considered. There is simply no substitute for experience and specific advice from others. If you want help tailored to your needs, ask your fellow role-players. I consider myself decently experienced on NS and RPing (I've been on NS for two years now. I've been RPing for far longer...) so I thought I should write something to help new players out. This guide will also talk about how to get your application accepted, so if you have troubles making APPs but don't want to read the rest, feel free to skip down to that section. Also, these are just guidelines, and won't apply to every situation. If you feel like you can ignore some of this advice than that's up to you, This is here to help and guide, not to restrict. Anyway, Let's get right to this. Components to a Good Character A character really is the sum of his parts. Ideally, it's best to have everything as strong and compelling as can be. (Though it's understandable to half ass it on some details like the name, but not always forgivable). Name: More important that you might think. Try to make sure it fits. (Calling a fantasy elf "Bob" is near inexcusable) Age: Make sure this is consistent with the Backstory. Appearance: Make sure this fits, whether it's a description or an image. (See separate section for more advice.) Personality: Super important. (See separate section) Backstory/Bio/History: (See separate section.) Relations to Other Characters: Despite what many might think, character creation does not end with the APP. Key to this is how they interact with other characters. Development/Future plans: Either you develop and keep building characters or they stagnate. Come up with plans for you character, though you don't necessarily have to stick with them. Opinions, Likes, Dislikes: Self-explanatory, and something you should only do once you've figured out the rest. Appearance Now, unless you can draw your character (Which I'd suggest doing even if you don't plan on using it as the main image if you can), there are two possible ways to give the OP and the other players a good idea of what your character looks like (as well as cementing what he or she will look like to yourself). One is to write a description of the character yourself and the other is to find an image online. Both have their pros and cons and both are perfectly valid... most of the time. Description Now, I don't tend to go this route (mostly because I can be lazy...) but I can say that if you don't have a detailed and comprehensive image in your head of your character: find an image. Descriptions should either be very good or be based off an image. If all I know about your character is that she's blonde and has blue eyes, that doesn't really tell me anything at all. Is she fat? Thin? Tall? Short? Athletic? Green Skinned? Fair Skinned? Dark Skinned? Short haired? I have no idea! So you're less likely to have a picture of what your characters like in your head, the other players won’t have as much to comment on and may not understand your vision and the OP is going to be supremely unimpressed. If you can't find an image MAYBE do a description if you think it'll be good enough. Otherwise, unless you have a clear idea of what your character is going to look like and are willing to put effort into writing about that for at least a few lines, then avoid this like the plague. Images Now this is the traditional way 80% of people on NS show people what their characters look like. Usually a Google search will yield a few decent results. It can be hard depending on the type of character you're going for, but usually enough diligence will come up with a few decent options. My main piece of advice would be to not stop after finding one image, but to get yourself a collection. Either for different scenarios or just so you have multiple options. Now, another cool thing about using images is that you can use them as writing aids for characters if you ever run out of ideas. Find some character images you think are cool and then wait until you find an appropriate RP, then write a character based on the image. Consider the feelings you think are portrayed and the general theme of the image. Try not to be too concerned about where the image comes from and just see where you can go with it. (This is also nice to do with music. Find a decent piece of music and write a character around it.) Personality and Backstory Now we get into the more interesting part. The personality of a character is integral to his or her being. It's always important to keep in mind even if there is no personality section of your APP. Characters without this tend to be uninteresting at best and boring at best. Neglect your characters personality at his or her own peril, for they will often be worse off for it. They also tend to help fill up space in a post and generally make your character an interesting person to talk to and interact with. You'll have more to say about them in general, which is never a bad thing. I'll likely end up doing a whole huge piece on just personality at another time, but for the sake of this guide I'll keep it simple. The Backstory of a character goes hand in hand with this, and you should always, ALWAYS, keep in mind that a back-story influences a personality and a personality influences a backstory. It's almost like the whole nature vs nurture argument, though often the first one you come across while reading downward in an APP tends to affect the other more. It's important to justify your characters actions with either their backstory of his or her personality. Next, try to think about how you can tweak your characters personality so that it's unique. Give it a new spin or look at it from another angle. Have you got yourself a depressing loner? Maybe she's a loner because she doesn't agree with societies norms on a fundamental level or perhaps she's so scarred by tragic events she finds it hard to talk and relate to normal people or maybe she's hiding a really violent rage that spills out when she's with others or you could play it for laughs and say that she finds the rest of the world boring and values time by herself. Got a heroic, selfless character? What if he's only heroic and selfless because he want's glory and wishes to be immortalized in others memory, what if he's really cocky and arrogant yet holds himself to a high standard as a result, what if he's only a paragon of virtue in order to hide the creeping psychosis and lust he wishes to control or he could be an naive yet well-meaning fool. Keep building once you've got a character concept. Keep going down into the roads and trails of your characters mind until you reach a dead end. At which point you can either backtrack or call it a day. The same goes for his backstory. Orphan with no parents? That's cause she killed them. Last of her kind? But she really secretly hated her kind. Son of a grand legacy? He wants to tear it down because his family was a group of backstabbing bastards. Clichés There are little do's and don'ts to personality. Often it's best judged case by case, but I've noticed several character types and clichés that tend to repeat themselves. You can by all means try your hand at them, but you should at least bring something else to them. If you've happened to make a good version of one of these, good for you. Also, these are but a few of the clichés I've noticed. I might list more in later editions. Revenge- Revenge can be done really well. Hell some of my very own all time favorite stories are based on revenge. It's an understandable goal. However I've noticed a lot of people use it as a crutch of sorts. Something to motivate their character to be what they are now. I see this more often in plot based rps, but it's fairly common. It's either hit or miss depending on how it's handled. Rich Kid- I've noticed a few characters tend to be obscenely wealthy and often are able to circumvent many a writing inconvenience by being so rich. It's not high on the cliché o meter but it gets a little annoying when everyone in an RP is Donald Trump. Edgy for the Sake of Edgy- These kind of annoy me. Though I personally do a decent amount of edgy in some of my characters, it has its place and it should not be all over your character like chocolate chip. Characters with scythes who moan and brood cause they had a tragic backstory, have been done to death, even though they can be done well. Mary Sue- I've seen this much less on NS, for which I am eternally grateful. These are characters with, simply put, no flaws or too few flaws. They are often overloaded with positive traits, have no real impact or weight and tend to cause other players to roll their eyes. Usually they'll have all the above clichés and more. It's hard to define, but you know what it is when you see it. What makes your character unique? Once your done with your APP, sit back and ask yourself. "What sets this character apart from the others? What makes her different from everyone else in this roleplay? From everyone else on NS?" Then ask yourself, "Am I going to enjoy playing this character?" Because if the answer is no, then don't. Start again if you have to. If you’re not having fun, there is no point to this whole exercise. If you are having fun, and everyone else is okay with it, then nothing in this guide matters. However if improving your characters is something you're serious about. Then feel free to continue reading these. Bonus: How to get your APP accepted? Now this is going to probably be the most useful and practical bit. I've been intentionally vague before because there really is no right and wrong to making a character. Each character is a wonderful and unique being. However, there is a right and a wrong the art of the APP, because while making a character is for your enjoyment, the APP is for the Operator of the thread. Making his or her job easier is the best policy. Let's break it down. Name: DO: Make sure it fits not just with the character, but with the world as well. If I'm an OP and I went through the effort of making an ancient Classical Era world, I do not want to see Bob Jones or Jannet Pierce. Use a name generator if you have to. DON'T: Use the first name of any other accepted character. Age: DO: Keep in mind to read the first OOC post carefully. There might be an age restriction or a specific time period the OP might not want your character to have been alive for. Keep it reasonable for the RP you are in. DON'T: Have your age wildly differ from your appearance with no explanation. If your character is ageless or something and the OP is fine with that, that's fine. (WARNING: do check with the OP on that ageless thing.) Species/Race: Some RP's may call for this. DO: Read the first post. Carefully DON'T: Make your own race up unless the OP wants you to. If he does, make sure it fits with the theme. Personality: Just see the above for that. Though really you have free reign here. OP's like it when you try something new. Backstory: DO: Include some details that will help integrate your character into the world. DONT: Make yourself an exception to the rule for the sake of it. Don't make yourself a Vampire who can walk during the day or a Kitsune with ten tails unless the OP is okay with it. RP Sample: This is the turning point. Sometimes this won’t be present, but it has the potential to save APPs that are hard to accept and shoot down APPs that are borderline acceptable. DO: Use your best work. If you're new, write your best work. DON’T: Use anything not representative of your full RP capabilities. Make it short. General Tips: DO READ THE ORIGINAL POST. Make your APP as easy for the OP to read as possible. Make it long. OP's like long APPS. Talk to the OP and the other players before you make the APP. Read other APPs before Applying. Have decent grammar, spelling and such. Have fun with it! APP making can be fun if you let it be fun. Often OP's can sense when you're letting yourself enjoy yourself. DON'T Argue with the OP too much. He or she only has so much patience. If the OP doesn't want to budge, don't push. They're probably stressed as it is. Make reading the APP hard for the OP. Change the APP format in any way, shape or form. You will be hung at dawn for this. Skip the first post. They will know. We always know... Character Challenges Alright, Here I will give you three quotes, traits, images and songs and I will challenge you guys to make a character on one of them. (Or ALL of them for an ULTIMATE CHALLENGE). You need to find an RP and APP this character, then at least have three well sized posts or an RP sample. (Three paragraphs at least) Send the APP and the posts/RP sample to me or to Starlight. We'll then reveal all the submissions in the next Issue of the Character Challenge and let you guys vote on which is the best. Quotes: "Conflict just isn't in my nature." "Time is money pal and I aint got a lot of either." "I hate boats almost as much as I hate trees. And I really hate trees." Traits: Someone obsessed with being punctual. Someone who had a very short short term memory. Someone who is cripplingly afraid of the dark. Images: http://www.irobinhood.org/images/personImg4.png https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/11/32/77/113277fdf345f42a03616cd193e6223c.jpg http://i.imgur.com/kbNsjvN.jpg Songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=999RqGZatPs

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue One: Page 3, Since 2015 Tuesday, April 28, 2015 Recent News A New Mentor in Town! This article is about general news affecting the whole of P2TM By The Starlight P2TM, meet your new Mentor, Mincaldenteans. We'll provide a brief summary, introducing you to our new mentor. Mincaldenteans, aka Min, is perhaps best known for their involvement in the epicly longlived RP, Personification Life. There, Min is a Co-OP, possessing several characters. Min also made one of their first appearances in the P2TM Chat Thread here, here, introduced by Nightkill(Khan). Feel free to TG Min about any RPing questions, or any of the other mentors, those being Cerillium (Cer), Esternial (Esty),The G-Tech Corporation (G-Tech), Nightkill the Emperor (Nightkill, Night or Khan), Swith Witherward (Swith) and Zarkenis Ultima (Zark). Though we don't know much about our new Mentor, we're glad to have Min, and stay tuned for the next issue. The P2TM Times will seek an exclusive interview with our new Mentor at the earliest opportunity. RP Groups In some relatively recent news, The P2TM Animu Enclave a Roleplaying And RP Discussion Group was founded by Agritum. For those of you who don't know, there are several RP Groups in the P2TM community. These are excellent places to chat, launch RP ideas, and interact with those who you've RPed with before, some focusing on specific genres, and others with broader fields. Here is a list of P2TM's RP Groups: The P2TM Animu Enclave Fallout RP Group Imperium - WFB/40K RP Group The Council of the Multiverse The Titans The Tolkien RP Group Hunter's Lounge/It Came From P2TM RP Group The Historical RP Group The Mechanics' Guild - A group for RPs with mechanics.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue One: Page 4, Since 2015 Tuesday, April 28, 2015 RP Advertisements Fall of Hoenn: Fall of Hoenn is a RP about Pokemon, as any hardcore Pokemon Gamer will be able to figure out. It is basically Pokemon, but darker, grittier, and probably with more blood and guts than every previous Pokemon RP combined. Collaboration between Templar High Council and New Jordslag, it is set in the Pokemon Region of Hoenn, of course, the setting for Generation III Pokemon games. Basically, every bad guy team from every Pokemon Game teams up, takes over most of Hoenn, except for the Southern Islands, which remain loyal to the old Hoenn Government. You can either be Villains or members of the Resistance, or, even more shockingly, Rangers! This is quite likely the first pokemon RP to allow you to play as a Pokemon Trainer or a Pokemon Ranger. For those of you who don't know what a Ranger is, probably because you only play the core games, basically they wield things called Capture Stylers, make Pokemon follow them around for a limited amount of time, and fight bad guys in an effort to protect the environment. But I continue. Billionaire Gem collector and former Pokemon League Champion Steven Stone is the head of the Resistance, while Giovanni is the head of the Villains. Ah, but I forgot the most important part! You see, The Villains have set up something called Pokejammers in Ever Grande City, the capital of Hoenn. They prevent regular Pokeballs from being used for any reason. The only Pokeballs that can be used are the Pokeballs manufactured by... the Villains, which are called Rule Balls. Naturally, the Resistance has to steal Rule Balls in order to catch Pokemon. This RP shall likely be released on May 18th, though depending on RL issues with me and Temp, it may or may not be delayed. Introduction: As of April 20th, 2015, an invasion of the large, industrial region of Hoenn has commenced by an Organization calling themselves the Rule Coalition. Landing points were at Slateport, Lilycove, Mossdeep, and Ever Grande City. All were quickly captured, as the Invaders had the aid of a mysterious device called a 'Pokejammer', which rendered normal Pokeballs all but ineffective. This terrifying new device let the Coalition swiftly capture mainland Hoenn in a matter of days. While there was resistance from the Pokemon Ranger Bases, it was scattered and easily crushed. Certain Gym Leaders and members of the Elite Four fled to Dewford, one of the last free ports, and set up a Provisional Government there. Other Gym Leaders and Elites, however, defected to the other side, surrendering without a fight. Total casualties of the initial invasion were amazingly tiny... for the Coalition. During the weak resistance from the Rangers during the Invasion, merely 20 Coalition Pokemon were captured and sent away. Around 30 Rangers were captured, the largest single surrender of Rangers in Ranger history. Meanwhile, rumors are flying that a Coalition invasion of Dewford is impending. The Rule Coalition, commanded by a Mr. Giovanni, refuses to confirm this. Mr. Giovanni had this to say about the situation: "We invaded to bring stability and prosperity to the Hoenn region. The Rangers are a leech that feeds off your taxes, and what do they do? They beat up anybody who resists. They have far too much power for a private organization. The time has come for somebody to teach them a lesson. To do this, we must utilize the resources of the Hoenn Region to their full effect. We apologize for the terror of anybody affected by the invasion." However, Steven Stone, Ex-Pokemon Champ, leader of the Dewford Government and collector of rare stones, had something quite different to say: "They invaded to institute their total domination of your lives. If they win, the people and Pokemon of Hoenn shall no longer be free. The Rangers and Gym Leaders of Hoenn work to protect the people and Pokemon exactly from terrors like this. We can't exactly let them go defenseless, now can we?" The conclusion to this conflict between the Coalition and the Dewford Government remains to be seen; but despite incoming Ranger backup, things do not look well for Steven Stone. The Athena Program: A group of the world's finest men and women take on the alien menace. Fight as one of 13 different classes, kill aliens, and maybe just maybe, more classes will come out. Drawing it's inspiration from Xcom, Ghost Recon and all that is sci-fi, Athena caters to those who have a need to prove themselves as the savior of humanity. Day one of the IC, and 2 missions are already on the table. Enlist today, and fight the alien menace tomorrow. The Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings: Hello there! This is Star bringing you another fantasy RP that I hope you enjoy. Your characters will find themselves to be Knights Radiant, and eventually assemble with many trials and battles in the way, along the way. The information in the RP has been simplified as much as possible, but it's still quite a lot. Feel free to ask if you have any questions, and I've tried to include as few textwalls as possible. Introduction: Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination. This is but one of the Immortal Words, this being the First Ideal of the Orders of the Knights Radiant, ten magical orders of knights, sworn to protect the world of Roshar, against the Voidbringers. Life before Death. The Radiant seeks to defend life, always. He or she never kills unnecessarily, and never risks his own life for frivolous reasons. Living is harder than dying. The Radiant's duty is to live. Strength before Weakness. All men are weak at some time in their lives. The Radiant protects those who are weak, and uses his strength for others. Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service. Journey before Destination. There are always several ways to achieve the goal. Failure is preferable to winning through unjust means. Protecting ten innocents is not worth killing one. In the end, all men die. But the Knights Radiant betrayed mankind on that fateful day, the day we call the Day of Recreance. All that is left of them is their Shardblades and Shardplate: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars are fought for them, and won by them. Roshar is no ordinary world. Nay, it is one of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power, highstorms, sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground at any sign of danger. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. Roshar indeed is a strange world, with spren, creations of nature that take different shapes and forms, appearing around certain events, ideas, or abnormalities. There are gloryspren, honorspren, creationspren and many more. Whilst many spren appear to do nothing but gather around whatever they are named after, some people think that the spren cause the things they're named after rather than the other way around. For instance, many believe that rotspren cause infection in a wound, as opposed to gathering as a sign that there is an infection present. War rages oft in Roshar, the greatest, yet the one that makes no sense, takes place in the Shattered Plains. But much more than war is coming. And it is time, for the Knights Radiant to return, and assemble once more.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Two: Page 1, Since 2015 Tuesday, May 19, 2015 The State of the Multiverse By The Starlight Hello everyone! It's been a few weeks, but here we are. Without further ado, here we go. Starting off with fantasy RPs, there's Chrome Legion's Beneath a Shattered Heaven, an RP taking place in a world after the sky shattered and a great war happened, killing many of the gods, and decreasing the power and glory of many. Next, there's a planned revival/reboot of Lord of the Rings: Third Age RP, the planning taking place in the link. So Tolkien fans, keep an eye on that, and there's been general talk and proposal of ideas in the Tolkien RP Group, so you may want to keep an eye on that as well. P2TM also has a new Dragon Age RP in the form of Flames of Corypheus, taking place during the events of DA: Inquisition, for all you who have played the popular games. Next up is Lith's extremely popular RP, To Kill a God. It's back, and though it's closed, head over there for a good read, or send Lith a TG if you really want to join, perhaps he'll make an exception. There's also Krugmar's dark fantasy RP, The Curse of Flesh, still lacking applications, along with my very own RP, Heralds of Aeryc. Oh, and there's also Imperialisium's Game of Thrones RP which takes place in Post-Apocalyptic North America, A World of Fire and Steel. Concerning medevial RPs, there's Ghondra's Of Gods and Kings, and Mesrane's The Crumbling Giant. As for superhero RPs other than Infinite Justice, there's Project Champions. This RP is unique in that characters can form their own RP threads for this, Project Champions possessing two currently. There's also Spawn of War, where superhumans have always existed, famous ones including Achilles and Genghis Khan. You'll be RPing as superheroes in the Cold War, where the the US and USSR, along with nuclear weapons, stock up on superheroes. Here are some interesting RPs, Harbertia's Inside the Box/A Writer's Inception, where writers in a graphic novel publishing company located in a fictional state where such publication must abide by strict content codes. At the same time, players will be playing the characters being written about by the writers who are unaware that they are mentally linked to these characters, who are real people, in an alternate reality. The RP appears to be on hold for the moment, TG Harbertia for more details. Another is Castle Crasher's Undertow, a survival RP where players RP characters that are stranded, having escaped on rafts. As for nation RPs, there's Arvenia's The Peaceful Century, taking place in a changed Earth. For mythology RPs, Arana has one up, Of Myths and Legends, where RPers play as demigods. As for god RPs, there's SaintB's Gods of Vinosea, and as for academy RPs, there's Charmera's Magic, Monsters and Mystery. Another academy/high school RP is Corrian's Blake Holsey High. Well, that's all I've got. If you would like anything added, TG my main account, The Starlight. Below is the Featured RPs List. Game of Thrones RPs: A World of Fire and Steel Superhero RPs: Project Champions Spawn of War Reboots: To Kill a God Unique RPs: Undertow Nation RPs: The Peaceful Century Fantasy RPs: Beneath a Shattered Heaven Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Dragon Age: Flames of Corypheus The Curse of Flesh Heralds of Aeryc God/Mythology RPs: Of Myths and Legends Gods of Vinosea Academy/School RPs: Magic, Monsters and Mystery Blake Holsey High

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Two: Page 2, Since 2015 Tuesday, May 19, 2015 Fantasy Races: The Elves By The Starlight In this series of articles, I'll be writing about the relative cliches of many fantasy races, and how to either avoid those, or portray them correctly while adding in your own elements. That will include elves, humans, dwarves, orcs, dragons and more. Tolkien's Elves First, we'll be starting with the elves. Of course, the most common version (and best, in my opinion) are Tolkien's version of elves. The author of the Lord of the Rings, completely redefined the elves, who were more thought of playful, small, mischievous, fae-like creatures. No, Tolkien's elves are noble, beautiful, epic and graceful. Types of Elves High Elves There are several types of Tolkien's elves you can utilize. There the High Elves, the Ñoldor, as they are called in the Silmarillion. These elves are tall, wise, incredible forgers, have some degree of magic(sometimes) and are great warriors. Their only weakness, one could say, is their pride, and arrogance due to their immortality. High Elves are usually the ones who are most haughty regarding other races. High Elves usually wield swords, spears, ride horses in cavalry, and bows, as well. Bows are a pretty common theme for all elves. Sea Elves Tolkien also has the Teleri, basically sea-elves. These elves are incredibly gifted in ship-building, and are great mariners, obviously, living near large bodies of water. Wood Elves The wood elves also feature in Tolkien's work, living in the Mirkwood of Middle Earth. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, and what this mirky wood is all about, this name should get you on the program: Legolas. That is assuming you've seen the Hobbit movies. Anyway, Legolas, Thranduil and Tauriel, they are all "Wood Elves." Wood elves are usually two things in fantasy. They are either the cheerful, mischievous elves that the High Elves disapprove of because of their silliness or supposedly lower birth, or they are the regal, fierce isolationists as they are in the Hobbit. But one thing always remains in common, Wood Elves are crack-shots with a bow. I mean, have you seen the stunts Legolas pulls off? Dark Elves As for more general elves, there are also Dark Elves. You have several options with the Dark Elves. Normal elves, such as those above are all "light" creatures, being of the light, and loving the light. For the Dark Elves, they could be spurned, ostracized by the other elves as they shone light. Or perhaps it's a difference of magic, with the dark elves using the "dark arts," and being driven away to live in dark mountains where the sun never lights. Or, and perhaps the best, the Dark elves for you could be misunderstood, and instead of being the perpetrators of some crime against the elves, they could be peace-loving elves that shun war. Or of course, the Dark Elves could be the sinister, evil, creepy, vampire-esque elves, if you so wish. It's all up to you. Tips for Making Your Elves Unique Decline One option is to change the state of power in the elves. This can be done in several ways. An option is to not have them at the height of their power, but instead have them on the decline. The same is in the Lord of the Rings, where Tolkien beautifully, and sadly, speaks of how the Age of Elves is gone, and the Age of Men has come. Here's a quote from Elrond, from the Fellowship of the Ring(book). Don't worry that you may not understand all of what he is saying, as long as you get the general theme. Thereupon Elrond paused a while and sighed. "I remember well the splendor of their banners. It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so....I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories." You can see how he reminisces about those times lost, those days of epic glory when the elves were at their peak, and were the mightiest of the races. The plot of the Silmarillion is an excellent example of this as well, for those of you who've read it. This is one thing to do to your elves, decrease their power, make them the lingering race, and as the quote goes, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." The Elves of the Third Age, during the events of LOTR are but shadows of what they once were. You could add your own elements by adding in flashbacks of those glorious days of beauty and power. But all that power doesn't have to be gone just then, if you want to. You could have a small group, or your character still have the blood and glory of old, to inspire others. A line I have used for some of my own elves was, "Do not reignite the fury of the Eldar." And another possible thing you could do is have little flashes of this glory appear as the RP goes on, or, if you're backed against the wall, launch an epic, glorious last charge to have your character go out in a blaze. Reproduction A common general weakness for elves is their reproduction, which is slow, unlike that of men. You could also play that into having your elves cherish and love to children, due to the few the elves have. Lifespan Another tactic is to make the lives of your elves shorter, around 150 to the maximum. That would have the effect not making them so arrogant, and adding a constant thought in their heads that they will die someday. Another idea could be to have them start out immortal, but then, due to circumstances that you would create, their lifespans are decreased dramatically. Status in World Your elves could be scattered, or divided politically, having several factions within their government. The elves could have been divided ideologically long ago, creating two possibly warring sub-species of elves. Or in a twist, the elves could be the weaker, lesser, oppressed elves, which has been used in a few video games, I believe. To have men or dwarves be predominant, and to have elves as willing or unwilling slaves is an option to consider if you're creating a world by yourself, and don't want elves to be the powerful beings they usually are. Yet another option is to have them as underlings to Fae, or some other superior race with better technology, magic or both. Name of Race Perhaps the most distinguishing of all things to do is to not call your elves 'elves.' Come up with another name for them, if you're creating a race of them. I constantly RP with High elf like characters, races or nations, and some times, I don't even call them elves, or I add in names of my own design, or that I've used in RPs before. Here's an example. Instead of High Elves, I may call them Valtmar, as you'll see in my sample below. the Valt being a derivation of vault, meaning high and the mar meaning ones, or elves, or whatever you wish. Another example of this would be Valmaeri. Cruelty Here's a quote from the late Terry Pratchett that I happened upon... Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. Elves are terrific. They beget terror. The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning. No one ever said elves are nice. Elves are bad.” Elves don't have to be the nice, polite creatures they are to many other peoples. To make them unique, your elves could have a cruel streak, or be utterly cruel, enslaving humans/dwarves/any other race, or being brutal killers. However, they could hide behind their seemingly fair appearance, and then strike. As Pratchett says, anything fair-seeming can be twisted, and to make your elves the bad guys, is an idea that is worth considering. Some Examples of Good Portrayals of Elves, in my opinion. Here first off, is mine. This long piece was what I created for a legendarium in a fantasy RP called Gaea. In it, I had a kingdom of High Elves, or rather, Valtmar, as I called them. After the RP died, sadly, I took what I had made and started making the Starlight into a fantasy elf nation, with this in my factbook. Warning, it is rather long, and there are elements of Tolkien that I've used. [center]Tales of the Valtmar Including conflicts, realms and lore "The fury of the elves is a thing to be feared, and avoided at all costs. The Valtmar in particular, with their silver swords of cold steel, the long spears that slice the air, their banners and pennants waving proudly in the sky, and the hooves of the stallions of the Asaheim Mountains. An army of Valtmar elves in all of its glory and power is a terrifying thought. But there is another side, one that loves the arts, and the mountains of which they dwell in. Their architecture matches that of the dwarves, even passes it in some cases, like that of the Twilight Fortress. The Valtmar do not belong here, beneath the veiled stars and the radiant sun of Gaea. But they are not of the Vaulted Ones, though they were made by them. So where then is their true home, the beloved hearth of the Valtmar? Who knows, but perhaps it is out there, in the glittering expanses of the stars, that their true hearts are. But none know, many many may ponder, until that Final Day." ~ A visitor to the Twilight Fortress, origin unknown.[/center] [center]Beginnings The elves awoke on the outskirts of the Kalzmere Mountains. The first of them were the Moon Elves, and their first sight was of the pale silver moon, in all of its glory. And so they revere its creator, Numeren, second only to Vaemidia. The Moon Elves had long, glittering silver hair, and their eyes were a soft grey. The next to awake were the Valtmar, though they were not called that at the time. Their hair and eye colors were varied, and they had a melody within their hearts. And so the Valtmar were lovers of the arts, along with nature and animals. Shortly after the awakening of the Valtmar, came the Faeran. Their hair a fiery red, the Fire elves had spirits of flame and when they first beheld the flickering flames, they were astonished. Last of all to awake were the Wood elves, who were cheerful and loved the forest and its trees above all else. Often, did they walk under the canopies of branches, humming, in those early days, and they still do. And after this awakening the elves were taken away, like a wisp in the wind, to the caverns of a mountain. And there, the Valatar revealed themselves, in all of their terrible and awesome glory, and the sight nearly blinded every single elf of Gaea. It was there that the elves were gifted with their wisdom from Saelerdon, and the Valtmar were taught all that they wanted to know. And after many days, the Mari, as the word elf is in Adaenari, found themselves back outside the Kalzmere Mountains. It was then that the elves dispersed, the Moon elves to the North, seeking the Moon, the Fire elves to the West, seeking and finding Mount Vulkar and its plains of fire, where they made their abode. The Wood elves scattered among the great forests of Gaea, living off and in the trees. But the Valtmar wandered, as a leaf in the wind, having no sense of destination or want, but simply going, as the wind wills. But it came to them, in a flash, to seek the place where the Valatar had shown themselves, for some among them had received a vision of an exceedingly high mountain, with many more surrounding it. And so, after many years, they found the Asaheim Mountains, the perfect place to settle, with enough stone to support a civilization. There the Valtmar discovered their true skill and they applied it to the fullest. But perhaps more importantly, they found Mount Valaheim, and decided to build upon it too, something, that would last for generations upon generations, and would, in time, become the wonder of Gaea: The Twilight Fortress. The Great Cities of the Valtmar The Twilight Fortress Where does one begin, when speaking of The Twilight Fortress? It is truly the greatest fortress in all of Gaea, being a watchful guardian on top of Mount Valaheim, at a height of 19,500 feet, providing an encompassing view of hundreds of miles. The Twilight Fortress is truly a wonder of Gaea, with its tall spires, its luscious gardens and tall walls carved with stone. Its foundations were built by the dragon Woatoth the Builder, after the first Valtmar found him on Mount Valaheim. A chandelier of Valkunr's tears hang in the main halls. There are elven runes of Adaenari upon the gate which hum with magical power, and swirls on the walls that make for a powerful sight. The fortress has never fallen out of the hands of the Valtmar, for it is the home of Vaemidia's holy order, The Paledic Order. Devout pilgrims make it their goal to visit at least once in their lifetime. Within its walls are great libraries, with books of lore and history. Truly, this whole Legendarium could be filled with the wonder of the Twilight Fortress, but alas, it cannot be so. But the Fortress still stands today, a monument and truly the epitome, of Valtmar architecture. Altma Built as one of the earliest elven cities, Altma was always a magnificient city, but it did not reach its full glory until the days of the Great Valtmar Empire. Ah, Altma, capital of the Great Valtmar Empire. If the Twilight Fortress was the greatest fortress in Gaea, then Altma was the greatest city. It markets known far and wide, Altma was a center of the arts, commerce, crafting and Elvendom. All of the elves were welcome to dwell in this magnificient city, even the Faeran, though some Valtmar grumbled. Altma was another epitome of elven architecture. Situated on the banks of Lake Telkontae, Altma was truly a fair city. It was surrounded by a thick and massive wall of stone, which was as white as stone. Altma was protected by 5 strong, beautiful gates, and as one went through the gates, they went up a level. The city had 20 gardens of herbs, flowers and trees, trimmed to perfection by the elven gardeners. Many a fountain there was in Altma as well, and surrounding the city were statues of famous elves, both men and female. Upon the highest level was the King's palace, in which were chandeliers of pure crystals and gems and there, in the broad courtyard was the Tree of Vaemidia, a massive tree of white and silver, upon which great white blossoms grew and where the sacred Eagles made their eyrie. It was guarded at all times by both the Kings Guard and the Paledic Order. And deep within the city were the tombs of the royal family, also protected by the Kings's Guard. Within Altma were some of the mightiest swords crafted, like Nammalúin, the sword of kings, wielded today by Irithren Terembor, Queen of Menevrion. But also magical toys of great skill and craftsmanship and fair tools were made here in Altma. And all of these things made its fall so much more painful to the Valtmar. For it was treachery, inside Altma, that felled the great city. For the jealous Sorcalin Empire sent messages to their kin, and there the First Kinslaying took place, the Faeran killing the guards and opening the main gate, letting the Sorcalins in, who had put Altma under siege for several years, but being unable to break the magical spells of protection. The battle raged for five sunsets, before the fire magic of the Faeran overcame the magic of the Valtmar. And so, Altma burned, its great libraries and palaces, destroyed. But the most grievous loss was that of the Tree of Vaemidia. Few of the Valtmar survived that day, but the few that did took many of the great treasures of the city, including Nammalúin, the horn of Saerondr and many ancient relics and crafts of the Valtmar. But the most precious thing that they took was a seed of the Tree of Vaemidia, which the young heir, Saeron carried in his small hands, fleeing with his mother, while the great Emperor of the Valtmar made his final stand before the secret gate through which they had escaped. But the young elfing always remembered the smoke of a great city beneath the moon, the gardens like torches blazing bright, for he had seen the treachery of fire and a city turned to ash. And when the young prince came to the Twilight Fortress, he told his tale and all of the Valtmar wept. And while running their swords along a whetstone, preparing for the great war that was to come, the Valtmar sang sad, weeping dirges of the fall of that great city, Altma. And so the Valtmar never forgave the Faerans, and they never forgot. The fury, nay, the rage of the Valtmar was unleashed against the Sorcalins, every Valtmar who could bear arms voluntarily joined the army, and so they marched, after the great muster, towards the land of the Faeran, of fire and flame. Their swords, sharp, their bows tall, they marched in silence, weeping in their hearts, but seeking, thirsting, for vengeance. And the Valtmar have hated the Faerans ever since, and always will. Valtmeris Valtmeris, translating to City of the High Elves. Nestled within the Asaheim Mountains, the south is guarded by the Twilight Fortress. A better location for such a city could not have been chosen. Valtmeris is large, and like Altma, has a great library of its own, along with abundant fountains and gardens. After the fall of Altma, Valtmeris became the new capital of the High Elves, and though it is does not possess the glory of Altma, it is still a great city. Upon its thick walls, a garrison of High Elves keep vigil over the city, their keen eyes being able to spot any foe. Upon the mighty gate is the Tree of Vaemidia, a symbol of their faith in the Goddess of Life. Both inhabitants and visitors alike have described the city of the Valtmar as glowing with an ethereal light. The houses and stores are multiple colors, and the proud blue, silver and gold banners of the Valtmar wave high, reflecting off the rising sun, which peeks its brilliant light over the mountainsides. Valtmeris dwells in a valley, allowing water to be collected from the silvery slopes of the Asaheim Mountains. The city seems to sing with the soft, enchanting music of Valtmar elves, with bards bearing beautifully crafted instruments of all kinds accompanying them. On rooftops are gardens of fruit and herbs, collecting sunlight and rainfall. Altogether, this city is a great sight. Azha's Lament Legend tells of an elven maiden and her love, who was a lieutenant in the Valtmar army. Her father was extremely strict, so every night the young maiden would climb out of her room to a secret vale, where the two lovers would meet. However, one day the lieutenant went off to war. His love was anxious, but confident that her love would come back. But the young man unfortunately died and when the young maiden heard this, she was overcome with grief. Not knowing how she could live without the man she, one last time, climbed out of her bedroom window and ran, weeping to a cliff. There she uttered a cry of pure grief, pain and sorrow. For her grief was so great that unknowingly, she infused magic into her cry. The burst of magic grew louder and louder until it started tearing into her soul. The young maiden continued to weep, and with one last cry, emptied her entire soul of magic, which created an enormous magical explosion. The surviving citizens described it as an earthquake which destroyed the city. Ever since, in the whispering wind and in the blackness of nights, the laments of Azha, the elven maiden are heard. After 30 years, the city is finally rebuilt and the Valtmar returned to it. Unlooked for and unexpectedly, the Oguin mount a raid on the rebuilt city and destroy it. The Valtmar are completely caught unaware, their armies in the South of the Asaheim Mountains, and the Oguin rape and pillage, and then burn the city. It is said that one can hear the screams and cries of an entire city, which only added to the laments of Azha. And so the city is also called in legend The Weeping Maiden, or Azha's Lament. The Great Valtmar Empire The Great Valtmar Empire was created by Saerondor Demren. He united the various high elven realms with clever marriages and diplomacy and soon declared himself Emperor. It was the first time the Valtmar had united under one banner, and though there were difficulties, their strength was considerable. The Empire quickly grew, and Saerondor began the building of Altma, the Empire's new capital. The land and the empire was prosperous, trade was abundant. And then, the Great Conquest began, or so it is called in the legends of Gaea. Saerondor gathered a mighty host at Altma and the mustering of it took 20 years. Every high elf who couold bear arms voluntarily marched to Altma. And at the end of 20 years, Saerondor's Host stood at the gates of Altma, the legions of the Valtmar numbering 500,000. It is said that Saerondor stood on the walls of Altma and stated "Let it begin. The West shall know and fear the blade of the Valtmar. The ground will quake and the skies shall be torn open." And then he unsheathed Nammalúin, Sword of Kings and Emperors and said to it, "You shall not be sheathed until this is done." A glory and might was revealed from Saerondr, and all who beheld him knew that here was an elf to be followed, here was an elf they could call emperor. And just then, a shadow appeared over the Host. Valkunr the Mighty had come, and offered his tooth, claw and fire. And so, indeed, it began. The High Elven legions marched across the West of Gaea. Men, Oguin, Dwarves and all other races learned to fear the name of the Valtmar, the emperor named Saerondor, who fought with the strength and skill of hundreds, mounted on the mighty dragon Valkunr. At the coming of the Valtmar it is said that cities and fortresses alike would throw down their weapons before the gate and open it. And if that was so, Saerondor would simply incorporate them into the Empire and they would go untainted. But for those who resisted, Saerondor would have the defenders killed and accept surrender. There was no raping or pillaging of the conquered by order of the Emperor, and any elf who disobeyed, regardless of rank would be banished from the Empire's lands forever. And the Empire grew in might. In 1438 BL, The High Kingdom of the Durognar declared war on the Great Valtmar Empire, claiming that the power of the Valtmar had gone unchecked for too long. It was a bitter, bloody war, but still infused with the honor of old. The humans called it the Elder War, in Durogvem, Inn ríkr reiði,The Great Anger and in Baldul it is known as Buzrâ naibziri, Deep Sadness. There were several small skirimshies, but one of the largest of the battles was the Battle of The Great Vale. The elves, led by Saerondr upon Valkunr, crossed the Palendar River and headed north. The dwarves met them in the Great Vale and there the battle took place. Elves and dwarves, hacking madly, skillfully at each other. And then, the two monarchs beheld each other, each being fierce and skill warriors, Emperor Saerondr Demren and High King Khuzad Falkunzavbrik. By the account of witnesses, Saerondr dismounted Valkunr and the two stood there for awhile, gazing upon each other. And then the battle, between these two kings, beneath the veiled stars began. Their battle was long, drawn out due to the skill of each of the combatants. But it was not the fate of the Emperor to fall here, and so he slew High King Khuzad Falkunzavbrik. But he did not disgrace the body, nor cut off the head of the king. Instead, Saerondr blew his horn, stopping all the elves from their fighting and allowed the dwarves to carry their fallen king away, singing dirge-like, weeping songs. And so Saerondr mounted back on Valkunr and the elves and the dwarves departed from that vale, each carrying their fallen dead. Some time later, The Dwarven City of Dur-Ganar was destroyed by the Great Valtmar Empire after a long, arduous siege. The Dwarves pressed the attack, winning several battles against the captains of Saerondr while the emperor himself was on campaign in the west. The Durognar even made their way deep into Valtmar territory, hammering on the gates of the Twilight Fortress itself, but a Valtmar general came up from Altma with a host and stopped the siege, the host slaying three Dwarven kings in that battle. The dwarves retreated and fortified their cities, and after awhile, Saerondr made peace with them, wanting to focus his armies elsewhere. After a campaign of 50 years, halted every winter, Saerondor and his Host returned to Altma, and he looked upon his empire, and saw its true glory. He now ruled all lands to Daeynar, north to Valtmeris, east as far as the Atanos River went, and south to the Whisperhead Mountains. The legions were dismissed and everyone who participated won great glory. Saerondr said goodbye to Valkunr with tears in his eyes, as the rider and his mount had become great friends. Saerondor then held a feast for all of the Houses and his valiant generals. And then, he sheathed Nammalúin, and said, "It is done," giving praise to Vaemidia and Taeron. Tales of the Great Valtmar Empire soon spread to the furthest corners of Gaea. All would pay homage to Saerondor, even the Faeran. But in their hearts they seethed, and looked for a way to destroy him. It was said that the rivers and lakes of the Empire ran with gold, and that Altma was the greatest city on Gaea. Saerondr was rumored to be a reincarnation of Taeron himself and was soon called Saerondr the Great. The Fall of an Emperor The treachery at Altma began the fall of the Great Empire. When all of his guards were slain in treachery by the Fire Elves and his city burned Saerondr at last stood alone, wielding two swords, for he had sent Nammalúin with his young, fleeing heir, Saeron. But not so easily would Saerondr the Great, Emperor of the Valtmar, Conqueror of Gaea and Dragonrider be felled. Saerondr fought with the strength of many, slaying fire elf after fire elf. Though he was beset by many, the Emperor wielded his blades like the Vaulted Ones. Every time he slew a fire elf he cried out, "Day shall come again!" 250 times did the Emperor utter that cry, but he tired and the fire elves, seeing it, greatened their magic and their assault. But the Emperor took up his sword once more and slew 25 more fire elves. But at last the Emperor fell, attacked from behind by some flanking Fire elves, and so, Saerondr the Great, Emperor of the Valtmar, Conqueror of Gaea and Dragonrider died. But just the fire elves prepared to defile his body with their magical fire came Valkunr, unlooked for. He had heard of the treachery and had beat his wings, flying with a dragon's speed, but he was not fast enough. Roaring, the mighty dragon blasted away the fire elves and took upon the Emperor in his claws, and bore him to the Twilight Fortress. And there, he wept, for the great emperor, and his tears created jewels as they hit the ground, for a dragon's tears are magical. And then Valkunr the Mighty looked earnestly on Saeron, son of Saerondr and bowed his head. The mighty dragon then flew, to unknown lands, overcome with grief for his friends, and the Valtmar have never seen him since. As for Saerondr the Great, he went to Taeron's domain, the Great Hall of Valgaard, to feast and drink there until the final day, when Saerondr and all those in Taeron's halls shall ride out to do battle with the Dark Ones. But the Valtmar have so hated the fire elves ever since, and still, in the Twilight Fortress and Valtmeris, songs are sung of Saerondr the Great, Emperor of the Valtmar, Conqueror of Gaea and Dragonfriend. The Sorca-Valtmari War After Saeron, son of Saerondr came of age, he sat in thought for some time in the Twilight Fortress. The Valtmar and their empire had been splintered by the death of Saerondr the Great. The Empire had fallen, and several divided kingdoms, much weaker than the glory of the empire had arisen. He sent word to all the Valtmar kingdoms, claiming his right as the heir of Saerondr to call them to arms, once more. And so, the second great muster began. But at the end of the muster, when Saeron looked down upon his host, he knew that this was but a fraction of the legions of the Empire. But the Valtmar were still in great number, and the glory and skill of the Valtmar still remained, albeit diminished. No famous words were spoken that day, nor oaths made. The host of Valtmar marched in silence, to the Sorcalin Empire, each of them remembering the glory of the Empire, and what the fire elves had done. And so, the Sorca-Valtmari War began. No mercy was to be given, no surrender accepted nor given, it would be a bloody war to the very end, and at that end, one would stand triumphant, the other, extinguished. The Sorcalins were in greater strength than Saeron had expected and the fire elves had a string of victories. Soon, the Faeran began driving the Valtmar back, and Saeron could do nothing, for though he was a warrior to be reckoned with, he was not his father. The Valtmar were pushed back all the way to the Asaheim Mountains, and the once mighty alliance of Valtmar Kingdoms was brought low, and put under siege. But hope remained and the Valtmar had a stroke of luck, the Great Cataclysm of Faera, the eruption of Mount Vulkar, destroying Faera and many of the Sorcalin mages and soldiers. Saeron mustered forth his troops and sallied forth of the Twilight Fortress, while other Valtmar charged out of Valtmeris, slaughtering the fire elves. No quarter was given and the Valtmar soon took the upper hand and besieged the Gates of Fire. After a 2 year siege, the Valtmar broke through and slaughtered every fire elf they could fine. Then Saeron took his elves and raided the countryside, reducing the Sorcalin Empire to a few possessions. After returning to Valtmeris to regather his troops, Saeron followed the Fire elves, pushing them to the Sari Mountains. Saeron's generals after growing horrified at what they had done, forced Saeron back to Valtmeris, where the Valtmar nursed their woulds and remustered. But Saeron could not be stopped and soon the generals agreed, returning to the Sari Mountains to besiege the fire elves' last possession: Vilvarion Castle. The vast High Elven legions clashed with the powerful Faeran mages in a great battle that lasted nearly five years. The Sorcalins, well-fortified in the towering Vilvarion Castle, butchered thousands...but at an equally devastating cost. In the end, the Sorcalin armies were decimated...and the family's age-old rule ceased to exist. And so, at last, the Valtmar stood victorious, the Faeran completely defeated. But at what cost? The Glory of the Valtmar Restored: The Great Valtmar Empire of the Starlight, Reborn The great -great grandson of Saeron had married Yaren Terembor, and their son took the Terembor name. Several generations after, Isebrir Terembor was born. Wanting to see the glory of the Valtmar restored, he took the sign of his inheritance, Nammalúin, Sword of Kings and Emperors to Valtmeris. There, he went to the council currently ruling and proclaimed that he wanted to form a new kingdom. Isebrir, when asked why him, unsheathed Nammalúin. "I am the Heir of Sareondr the Great. Follow me, and I will see our glory restored and a new dawn for the Valtmar!" And so, Isebrir Terembor, Heir of Sareondr founded the Kingdom of Menevrion, in 365 AL. S Isebrir died in battle to the south. His son Iseril was crowned, who helped the kingdom gain a larger role in the world of Gaea, making it a center of trade, the arts, and skilled warriors once again. Iseril died strangely in a rare disease that only affects high-elves. And so Irithren Terembor became Queen of Menevrion. Within the first weeks of her reign, reports came of the Oguin flooding through the Asaheim Mountains to raid and pillage. The young queen went out to meet them, taking the sword of Sareondr and her grandfather's spear, Siryamíl. And to all the Valtmar who were there, the Queen revealed her heritage and glory as the heir of Saerondr, fighting with the strength of dozens. The Oguin were utterly crushed and Irithren pursued them, and utterly destroyed them, letting only a few survive to tell the tale of glory of the heir of Saerondr. Upon her return to Valtmeris, she was soon named by the people 'Warrior Queen' and served as a inspiration for many female elves, who took up arms. Irithren founded the Queen's Company, her battleguard of female Valtmar swordmaidens, and proclaimed sweeping gender laws, allowing a female to do everything a man could. Her otherwise peaceful reign was broken again by the arrival of a Faeran coin, hinting at the return of the Faeran, with Orthralas at the head of them. At a pilgrimage to the Twilight Fortress, Irithren met the Wood Elves and revealed the coin and what it signified, leading the Elvenking, Ardruil Illuvien to propose marriage and a union of their two kingdoms. Irithren agreed and so the second Great Empire has begun. Irithren bore a child, in whom the legendary Valtmar's spirit dwelt. His name was Saerondr II Terembor, and he was the Emperor Reborn! And a mighty emperor he was indeed, taking up Nammalúin, Sword of Kings and Emperors, and Siryamil, translated as Riverspear. He still reins today, guided by his father Ardruil Illuvien and by the Queen Mother, Irithren Terembor. The Tree of Vaemidia was grown anew, and it bloomed and flourished. Saerondr II took the tree, and refounded Altma, that great city. And his reign has endured ever since.[/center] Another example is this is here, Mesrane's excellent potrayal of an arrogant elf, Salvalas. You can see by his superior grammar that he considers himself above the humans, and barely spends a moment before racing off for them to follow. A day's ride north of Dolaras A trio of young eadrom scouts picked their way across the abandoned fields of wheat as the sky darkened overhead. Irving Taggert had dispatched a hundred scouts in every direction but straight north, in an attempt to find and link up with Saerondr before the undead of Ninurtusur stumbled upon them independently, in which case Rickard might well be doomed. As they progressed through the fields, the mounted scouts noticed a lone figure sitting his mount atop a small knoll, watching them intensely. After quiet observation, it was clear the rider was not one of Ninurtusur's. The scouts therefore decided to approach him. They split off, each about twenty yards from the other, hands on their sword hilts as they cantered up the hill. Still the rider did not move. As they drew up to him, it became obvious through the ears and the style of armor that the rider was an elf. He regarded them curiously, eyes narrowed as he tried to discern from their mottled green and brown cloaks who exactly they belonged too. He too, had his spindly fingers wrapped around the hilt of his blade. The leader of the trio inclined his head and smiled, showing a set of rotting teeth that served to eliminate most of the charm the smile would've otherwise brought. "'Ello. Name's Cadell. These two be Jaymes on me left and Pod on me right. We be riding for Irving Taggert, who rides for Rickard Malcolm, who rides for King Owain. Now you look to be serving Laird Saerondr, an' Marshal Rickard be on the wee highway trying to find him. We come to relieve Dolaras or some'n like that. Anyways, we need ta be a' finding yer laird. Be a good wee lad and show us to him, now." The elf started in surprise, apparently not expecting the promised aid from Eriadha quite so soon. The elven scout grinned as if glad, but he sniffed at his course counterpart with a hint of derision. "I am called Salvalas. Indeed, I serve Lord Saerondr. It is most fortuitous that we come upon one another at this hour. Come, follow me. We are not much more than four hour's ride from his camp." Without another word he turned and sped down the hill, leaving the Eriadunnii to follow. Cadell sniffed in turn at the elf's near-impeccable grammar, though more in jealousy than otherwise. The four rode through through increasingly destitute scenes of abandoned or torched villages. For the first time, rotting bodies began to make an appearance. Despite the ruin around them, the late summer woods looked untouched and the grass was a shining green. If not for the bodies and the malevolent quiet that infects all lands touched by war, it would've been beautiful. Several hours after dark fell, they splashed across a stream and beheld the torchlight and campfires of Saerondr's camp. Tens of thousands strong, Cadell thought. excellent. He turned in the saddle to Pod. "Pod, run and go tell the marshal of the camp's location, now that you've seen it. Over thirty thousand strong, his best scout Cadell Collins says!" Nodding, the scout reversed course and kicked his horse into a gallop, speeding back across the stream and back to the imperial highway. Soon be was swallowed up by the night, the sound of his steed's hammering hooves fading into an eerie nothing. Soon they passed through a fortified gap in the ditch encircling the camp and entered the space where over thirty thousand of House Tarembor's levies resided. Salvalas swiftly led them to Saerondr's command tent at the center. "Look lively lad," Cadell whispered to Jaymes as they dismounted. "Bow and speak nice 'an all that. We in a presence of a right laird now." Salvalas rushed inside to speak briefly with Saerondr before a mailed hand extended from the tent flap, beckoning them inside. Once inside, Cadell and Jaymes bowed low while Saerondr looked on expectantly. "Laird Saerondr," Cadell began. "We be most honored in yer presence. We serve the marshal Rickard Malcolm, who serve King Owain. The marshal be headin' the relief force sent by His Grace the king. He commands nine thousand men, and is seeking to link his army to yers so as to not to be divided during the battle. He also inquires after the dispositions and exact size of the enemy force, as he has only a rough idea of their strength." He looked up, face splitting into another ugly grin. "An' he asks if yer lairdship know of any imperial forces in the area." The Starlight serves as a founder and editor-in-chief of the P2TM Times. He is also the OP of Heralds of Aeryc, and is also an RPer in numerous RPs, including Infinite Justice and Children of Infinity. He can be contacted via TG.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Two: Page 3, Since 2015 Tuesday, May 19, 2015 P2TM’s Newest Mentor An interview with Mincaldenteans By Cerillium Recently, players expressed a desire to have an additional Mentor that wasn’t dedicated to only one or two groups. NS Admin’s decision came after a lengthy evaluation period in which several qualified candidates were suggested and reviewed by both P2TM and II Mentors. The end result was the appointment of Mincaldenteans. Mincaldenteans, or Min, is a familiar face to many in P2TM and the Diplomacy threads. Most players recognize him for his passion for a particular science fiction franchize. “I have a love for Star Trek,” he humbly admits. The Star Trek universe captivates his imagination and Min thoroughly enjoys immersing himself in it. He formed the P2TM Star Trek RP Group, a now-dormant organization that united fans for the sake of fashioning and/or advertising Star Trek role plays. Although his nations and role plays often embody small elements in tribute to the franchise, he also tends to dabble in other franchises and genres - be it out of familiarity or curiosity or both - participating in a variety of role plays on NationStates. He has more than forty under his belt, and frequently serves as CoOP when not fashioning his own setting as OP. Never one to limit himself to only one thing, he belongs to several role play groups in P2TM as well as in Nation States (a Diplomacy subforum). Most recently, Min co-authored C&M’s Guide to GMing. “I first thought it'd be a daunting task,” Min said of his P2TM Mentorship appointment. Daunting indeed considering how rapidly P2TM is expanding and the amount of new RP that spring up weekly. Min’s approach is very basic however. “I've always been more one-on-one with those I've helped; a bit behind the scenes.” It is this unassuming and approachable demeanor that set him apart from many of the other candidates. Min doles out advice but he also takes the time to personally see to a player’s needs. He mentors from the heart. “My idea, or goal, is simple: help. Often times, players feel lost - overwhelmed even - and if I could nudge them in the right direction that's good enough for me. They're always welcome to come back and ask for assistance or toss ideas around.” His ability to ease people into a game and to guide them stems from a long personal history of role playing that began when he was only fourteen. Online gaming was regulated to play-by-email (PbEM) RPs or chat room RPs in those early days; the transition to primarily forum role playing came later but Min took to it as eagerly as a duck to water. There is more to life than role play (and Star Trek) however. Min balances a full-time career with his mentoring duties and role playing endeavors. Often, inspiration for characters and games comes from some of his offline hobbies. “Despite my schedule, I always find time to sit back and enjoy a good novel,” he smiles before adding, “Unless it’s raining - then its blankets, food and movies.” Min’s specialty is character development, although he is well-known for his ability to coax writers and players to invest in their character(s). “Often I see characters that don't convey thought or feeling - they are reactionary to someone else with little regard to finding out how it affects their own character. One could always say, well, I know how s/he/it thinks, so that's all that matters. My opinion: that's only half-right - write it out. It’s more interesting to read a character's thoughts and feelings rather than seeing how they pull a trick out the proverbial hat.” It’s sound advice and something people can take to heart, be they veteran players or newbies testing the P2TM waters. It is impossible to foresee how much P2TM will expand over the next year but Min, like many P2TM denizens, remains optimistic. He’s not one to look too far ahead, and he prefers the surprises that spring out of our corner of NationStates. His focus is on the here and now, and the incoming new-to-role-playing people flocking to this site as NS Summer 2015 draws near. “Take your time,” he advises new players. “I know I did when I was a newbie and I still do. Don't be in a rush to prove your mettle or how 'badass' you can spin a char about, that's usually how one becomes discouraged from RP'ing later, or worse, others distancing themselves from you. Feel around, explore, lurk (avid lurker here), get to know a few people who you'd enjoy RP'ing with and grow from there.” Min, like all P2TM Mentors, can always be reached via the NS Telegram system. In addition, you can catch him from time to time in the various NS-related IRC rooms. Cerillium serves as a P2TM Mentor and as a P2TM Times editor. He is the primary administrator/OP for Personification Life, a training RP for those looking to learn how to RP or GM as well as those seeking to improve their play style. He can be contacted via his Telegram Box.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Two: Page 4, Since 2015 Tuesday, May 19, 2015 A Multiversal Review By Zarkenis Ultima Be it characters, stories or even worlds, all those among us who have poured their efforts and their creative juices into the creation of new and interesting content for a roleplay know the feeling of pride and satisfaction that comes with typing the last line of your story, adding the last bits of information to your world or putting the finishing touches on that application you've been working on for a while and then hitting submit. Yet, we should also remember at all times that we are not infallible. As humans, imperfection is a part of our very being, but far from detracting from our work, this means that we are creatures with infinite potential, with an ability to improve constantly, be it in our personal lives, in our jobs or studies, and of course in our hobbies, roleplaying among them. Today, I will be reviewing a character created by fellow article writer and roleplayer Charmera, Elizabeth "Beth" Francis, from the roleplay Fairly Modern Grimm, authored by co-founder of the Titans RP group, Harbertia. The roleplay, heavily inspired in classical fairy tales and shows based on them, revolves around a group of people, descendants of the characters of old stories that are living in the towns of Grimmsdale and Avalon, their fates entwined by their unique blood. In fact, an unique aspect of the roleplay are the bloodlines, which tie the characters of the roleplay to the characters of fairy tales and grant them abilities in accordance to the role their ancestors played in their stories. Now that some context has been provided, I'll review this character based on three criteria: Story, Originality and Development. Story - 3/5 The character reviewed, Elizabeth Francis, is part of the Animus bloodline, a lineage of nonhuman shapeshifters based on the story of Pinocchio and characterized by their emotionless nature, their jealousy of human beings and their ardent desire to be truly human, as well as their fear of fire. She is not completely Animus, however, as she is known to be able to display weak emotions now and then, and in fact, it is unknown if her family is also part of the Animus bloodline or not, shedding some mystery on her story. Sadly enough, little more information was given on her background during the time that this roleplay was active. All that is known is that she lived in the mining town of Grimmsdale and studied at Avalon High School with her childhood friend Clayton Moriarty. Still, even if the short lifespan of the roleplay was caused by events outside of the control of the character's author, four posts don't allow one to know much about a character's story, and so, there is not much else to say on this end. The foundations laid out for this character's story were solid, but as there was no chance to build upon them, I will give this character's story three stars out of five. Originality - 4/5 Now, we will all have to admit to ourselves that characters based on Pinocchio aren't exactly the most common here in Portal to the Multiverse, and for that alone, Beth deserves some merit as an original character. The worldbuilding that took place before her creation, the crafting of the Animus bloodline, is partially to thank for this. The fact it is based on a fairy tale character scarcely used in P2TM roleplays, as well as the unique take on his story that leads to the abilities of the Animus as a whole is something to be appreciated. As for the character itself, perhaps the cold personality Beth possesses and her story filled with doubts about her own heritage may not be the most unique choices for creating a character, but it is important to note the interesting conflict that these things cause when coupled with the convictions she has as an Animus, which drive her to fake a warmer personality and try to reach out to others and make friends in order to become more 'human', while at the same time trying to keep some distance between herself an other people in order to hide her true nature as an Animus. Overall, Beth comes across as a fairly unique character, as her lineage is quite interesting and even though her personality and story may not be the most unique, they are presented very well. For that, I will give this character's originality four stars out of five. Development - 4/5 For Beth, this is both the most interesting part to analyze, and the trickiest. It is true that the author did not count with much time to develop her as a character due to the short lived activity of the roleplay, and it is precisely because of this that it is complicated to judge her development, as in order to do so fairly one has to take this into account. Beth starts out as an Animus girl with a cold personality who is uncertain about her family and strives to be human like all other Animui. Given hope by the fact that she can feel emotions, however weakly, she does her best to keep her only friend around and act like other people, faking emotions and such, thinking that this will bring her closer to becoming human. In that regard, Beth does not develop much throughout the roleplay, as she does not change. However, there is more to developing a character than simply having him change throughout the story, and the four posts featuring Beth are a good example of this. Though her initial traits do not change, they are greatly expanded upon. In only four posts, we can see the conflict Beth faces as she tries to keep her only friend around while hiding the truth from him. We can see different facets of the jealousy she harbors towards human beings. We can see how her limited emotions affect her views of the world and of other people. Her personality may not have changed much, but it is definitely showcased and detailed very well in only four posts. As such, I will give this character's development four stars out of five. Conclusion As we can see, Beth is a character that had a unique background and a promising story ahead of her, one which was sadly cut short by events outside the author's control. However, during the little time that Beth was played as a character, we were able to get a good look at her. It is, thus, my humble opinion that, overall, this character deserves four stars out of five. 4/5 And with that, this issue's Multiversal Review is over. If you are interested in getting a review for your character and/or story and/or setting, don't hesitate to send me a telegram with any material you deem necessary. You may just get a review! Anyway, that's it for now. Until next issue! Zarkenis Ultima serves as a P2TM Mentor and as a P2TM Times editor. He is the OP for Children of Infinity. He can be contacted via his Telegram Box.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Two: Page 5, Since 2015 Tuesday, May 19, 2015 RP Advertisements Fallout: Miami Vice: A fairly open ended Fallout RP. Only real limit is that it takes place in Miami/Southern Florida. IC is up, all things are clear. Just need more people. It is both a character and faction RP, so you may do one or both, although it is required you fill out an app for your leader if you make a faction. WE NEED ALL THE PEOPLE WE CAN! SHOW UP! Fall of Hoenn: Fall of Hoenn is a RP about Pokemon, as any hardcore Pokemon Gamer will be able to figure out. It is basically Pokemon, but darker, grittier, and probably with more blood and guts than every previous Pokemon RP combined. Collaboration between Templar High Council and New Jordslag, it is set in the Pokemon Region of Hoenn, of course, the setting for Generation III Pokemon games. Basically, every bad guy team from every Pokemon Game teams up, takes over most of Hoenn, except for the Southern Islands, which remain loyal to the old Hoenn Government. You can either be Villains or members of the Resistance, or, even more shockingly, Rangers! This is quite likely the first pokemon RP to allow you to play as a Pokemon Trainer or a Pokemon Ranger. For those of you who don't know what a Ranger is, probably because you only play the core games, basically they wield things called Capture Stylers, make Pokemon follow them around for a limited amount of time, and fight bad guys in an effort to protect the environment. But I continue. Billionaire Gem collector and former Pokemon League Champion Steven Stone is the head of the Resistance, while Giovanni is the head of the Villains. Ah, but I forgot the most important part! You see, The Villains have set up something called Pokejammers in Ever Grande City, the capital of Hoenn. They prevent regular Pokeballs from being used for any reason. The only Pokeballs that can be used are the Pokeballs manufactured by... the Villains, which are called Rule Balls. Naturally, the Resistance has to steal Rule Balls in order to catch Pokemon. This RP shall likely be released on May 18th, though depending on RL issues with Jordslag and Temp, it may or may not be delayed. Introduction: As of April 20th, 2015, an invasion of the large, industrial region of Hoenn has commenced by an Organization calling themselves the Rule Coalition. Landing points were at Slateport, Lilycove, Mossdeep, and Ever Grande City. All were quickly captured, as the Invaders had the aid of a mysterious device called a 'Pokejammer', which rendered normal Pokeballs all but ineffective. This terrifying new device let the Coalition swiftly capture mainland Hoenn in a matter of days. While there was resistance from the Pokemon Ranger Bases, it was scattered and easily crushed. Certain Gym Leaders and members of the Elite Four fled to Dewford, one of the last free ports, and set up a Provisional Government there. Other Gym Leaders and Elites, however, defected to the other side, surrendering without a fight. Total casualties of the initial invasion were amazingly tiny... for the Coalition. During the weak resistance from the Rangers during the Invasion, merely 20 Coalition Pokemon were captured and sent away. Around 30 Rangers were captured, the largest single surrender of Rangers in Ranger history. Meanwhile, rumors are flying that a Coalition invasion of Dewford is impending. The Rule Coalition, commanded by a Mr. Giovanni, refuses to confirm this. Mr. Giovanni had this to say about the situation: "We invaded to bring stability and prosperity to the Hoenn region. The Rangers are a leech that feeds off your taxes, and what do they do? They beat up anybody who resists. They have far too much power for a private organization. The time has come for somebody to teach them a lesson. To do this, we must utilize the resources of the Hoenn Region to their full effect. We apologize for the terror of anybody affected by the invasion." However, Steven Stone, Ex-Pokemon Champ, leader of the Dewford Government and collector of rare stones, had something quite different to say: "They invaded to institute their total domination of your lives. If they win, the people and Pokemon of Hoenn shall no longer be free. The Rangers and Gym Leaders of Hoenn work to protect the people and Pokemon exactly from terrors like this. We can't exactly let them go defenseless, now can we?" The conclusion to this conflict between the Coalition and the Dewford Government remains to be seen; but despite incoming Ranger backup, things do not look well for Steven Stone. The Athena Program: A group of the world's finest men and women take on the alien menace. Fight as one of 13 different classes, kill aliens, and maybe just maybe, more classes will come out. Drawing it's inspiration from Xcom, Ghost Recon and all that is sci-fi, Athena caters to those who have a need to prove themselves as the savior of humanity. Day one of the IC, and 2 missions are already on the table. Enlist today, and fight the alien menace tomorrow. Heralds of Aeryc: RPers form small pantheons of gods which create Champions, who interact with other champions upon the world of Aeryc. Those champions will fight against each other, form alliances, and discover/use their powers which are lesser versions of those of their gods. Both magic and technology are present in the world of Aeryc, and those with less magic have more tech, and vice versa. Technology, how ever, will only go up to matchlocks/pistols, and perhaps early cannons. Magic and technology may be mixed, but those who do so will have less of it and will be hindered. Introduction: In the beginning, far before any of us can imagine, there was an entity, Aeryc. The lonely god of all had previously created a world, but there was only darkness upon it. The living beings, if they could be called living, for they were not truly sentinent, stayed in their dark, deep pits and dungeons, some of which reached the very core of the world, the earth Aeryc had made. And there they had stayed in eternal slumber, having no notion of the existence of life, and that they themselves were alive. After thousands of years, Aeryc grew weary, and so standing above the world he had made, split his essence into hundreds of pieces. The doing of this caused a great light, a light which penetrated the darkest of the pits and dungeons, and so the beings awoke from their eternal slumber, and beheld the light. At first they hid from it, but they adapted, and soon emerged to the surface, beholding life. For animals frolicked and walked upon the earth now, and there were plants too, great tall things which they called trees. But the beings were still without shape, soul or voice, still. The splitting of Aeryc's essence had created the sun, and also deities, the Valras, lesser in power than Aeryc, but still far above that of those who dwelt on the world of Aeryc. And these deities, these gods gave themselves names, and then went down to the world of Aeryc, and shaped the beings, giving them shape, face, soul, voice and more. And the Valras also gave them a share of their power, and imparted much knowledge unto those who they named their champions. The first of the Valras were those who created the Valmari/Lunmari, known to all as the Eldar, the Edalie, or by their common name, the elves. Many more Valras came, and shaped their own beings, some after the fashion of the Valmari, and some entirely opposite to the elves. And after the champions were created, the Valras departed, forming their own world high above the world, which is now called Aeryc. And the realm of the gods is called Elenda. And so, the champions of the Valras went to their own business, some forming great civilizations, learning to use their gifts and powers, for both good and ill. And as their powers grew, so did war, upon the world of Aeryc.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Three: Page 1, Since 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 Apologies and Announcements By The Starlight Well, it's been quite a while. Exams, movies, laziness and other RL things have kept me from posting this when it should have been, so I apologize for the delay. Also, in order to promote this more, if you're willing, would you put this in your sig? Code: Select all [color=#0000FF][b]Reader of [url=http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=339450]The P2TM Times[/url], a biweekly P2TM newspaper on the RPs and happenings of P2TM. Check it out![/b][/color] Feel free to edit, shorten or add anything you like. Also, The P2TM Times is looking for full-time writers. Our full-time writers will be those who pledge to write something up for each issue. Of course, there's no RL money involved, but you'll receive my everlasting gratefulness. TG my main account, The Starlight, or post in the discussion thread, here. Thanks, and now, on to the newspaper!

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Three: Page 2, Since 2015 Monday, June 29 2015 The State of the Multiverse By The Starlight Hello everyone! Summer is here! Now, on to the RPs. I'll suppose I'll start with superhero RPs this week. The RP called Project Champions has now shifted hands several times, and now rests in the hands of Anowa, now named Gods Among Us. Related to it is Dyelli Beybi’s Birth of Aegis RP.And of course, there's Infinite Justice, the RP that never seems to die for long. It's moved on to its second OOC now! There's also our new Mentor's RP, Postapocalyptia, where RPers are part of a group of wanderers on a colonized planet. That doesn't describe much of it, but if you're intrigued, check it out, along with all other RPs here too. This is a reboot, the credit for making it goes to Ayreonia. Also featuring on our list is Temp's and New Jordslag's Pokemon RP, The Fall of Hoenn, after being advertised here several times now. There's Beiarusia's Outbreak, a survival RP taking place on an infected world. As for fantasy and medieval RPs, there's Imperialisium's The World of Gaea, Sveltlana's Under a Foreign God, Founder Thoth's The Elder Scrolls, Bezombia’s Crusader Kings 2 RP called Blood of the Sacrement, Blood of the Damned, Kherkov’s Age of Mortals and The Central Fascist Empires' The Bleeding Forest. And as always, there’s a Game of Thrones RP here, OPed by Alotopia. If you're a Mass Effect fan, you might like Brusia's The Prothean Treasure. Speaking of franchises, The Rebel Alliances also has his Star Wars RP called, Galatic Schisms and Everlyn's SW RP is called Padawan Rising. There's also Faal Lot Himdah's Rise of the Guardians, where RPers are part of a monster fighting group. Harbertia's The Fall of Cailmax, a dungeon crawl RP. Sertia also has a RP up called PlanetQuest where you RP as a contestant in the latest season of one of the universe's most popular and watched reality holovision shows ever, PlanetQuest, the famed game show which throws would-be invaders into the life of a world conqueror, subjugating natives in a remote planet for a chance to call the shots at your own spot in the universe. This time, you're conquering our very own Earth. Achidyemay has a satirical conspiracy theory RP up called H.O.M.E.L.E.S.S.. Harkback Union has a settler RP called The Pioneers. Fantrum has their Fallout Equestria RP called Worries in the Windy City. Mesrane also has a zombie RP taking place in 1960 called, Dark Watch. Finally, Agritum has a WW2 Fantasy/Horror RP called World on Fire: Shadow Ops Well, that's all I've got. If you've got any suggestions of things to add to this, or you want one of your RPs added to the list, as always, TG The Starlight or post in the discussion thread. Until next time, farewell! Featured RPs List: Game of Thrones RPs: A GoT RP Superhero RPs: Gods Among Us Birth of Aegis Infinite Justice Interesting/Miscellaneous RPs: Postapocalyptia The Fall of Hoenn Outbreak PlanetQuest Rise of the Guardians The Fall of Cailmax H.O.M.E.L.E.S.S.. Worries in the Windy City. Dark Watch. Space RPs: ME: The Prothean Treasure The Pioneers SW: Galatic Schisms SW: Padawan Rising. Fantasy RPs: The World of Gaea Under a Foreign God, The Elder Scrolls Blood of the Sacrement, Blood of the Damned Age of Mortals The Bleeding Forest World on Fire: Shadow Ops

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue 3: Page 3, Since 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 The Autonomous Province of the Nationland: Article 1, What is Nation RPing? By Alleniana The P2TM is no stranger to nation RPs . The P2TM's oldest page of topics, from mid-2012, if you care to click to it, has a couple nation RPs represented, and today, the front page also usually has a few. The P2TM's rivals in the Diplomacy forums tend to exclusively RP nations, and there is often crossover with the P2TM. Nation RPers have been around in the P2TM and even F7 for nearly as long as each has been around, and they have generally established quite a foothold, certainly enough to avoid simply orbiting the Diplomacy forums, which themselves have actually been influenced by P2TM on occasion. The nation RPing community is well-established and sizeable within P2TM, though certainly not dominant. Yet, amongst the other communities of the P2TM, there is often confusion or misunderstanding about nation RPing. Sometimes it is perceived as just a misguided offshoot of II, or the concept itself is simply not comprehended. Partially because of the fundamentally different structures that are RPed (nations of people vs identifiable characters), and partially because of the influence of Diplomacy, there is a fair bit of misconception about nation RPs in P2TM. And, to be fair, considering those influences, and the likelihood that a non-nation RPer would get close to a nation RP, some misunderstanding might almost be expected. But it is not beneficial, and so that's where this column's inaugural column comes in. This column will hopefully have a new installment and a new topic every edition of the P2TM Times, helping to shed light for the entirety of the readership on what a slightly isolated subsection do, while also providing self-reflection and insight for those who are nation RPers already. It will concentrate mostly on nation RPs, though once it a while, it may take a tangent. That's for the future, though. So, without further ado, we answer the question: What is nation RPing? I'll assume that everyone here is already familiar with character RPing, probably the "default" mode of RP in the P2TM. You create or take control of a character and lead them through whatever the RP is about, and do things and interact. Well, simply, nation RPing is the same, except that it is a nation or a similar entity, rather than a character. Certainly, changes have to be made to allow things to make sense; a far lesser percentage of what goes on in the world is RPed, due to the necessity created by volume, and often many different places, groups and ideas are visited without coming back to them, while characters must inevitably go from one action to another and remember what they have done. This is the simplest explanation and the basic idea, though. Some ask why nation RPing in P2TM is different from II or other such Diplomacy forums; the answer is for the same reason that RPing your NS nations' president probably goes in II. Nation RPers in the P2TM do not RP as their own nations. They might create one, should it be an AH or AW RP, or apply as a historical one; say, the Ottoman Empire, or Taiwan, but they do not RP with any canon outside of the given RP's created world. There can be confusion about this, but nation RPs aren't being misplaced in the P2TM. Another point of confusion might be the style or format. How can an entire nation be RPed? For someone who might be used to detailing their character's every interaction with the world, or at least most of them, taking control of an entire nation might seem daunting, impossible or nonsensical. This would probably be best explained by looking at actual examples, to give ideas of how it is done, but the point is that not everything is RPed, and much is inferred or implied. Actions are looked at from whatever perspective the writer chooses to take, as in character RPs, except that the breadth of focus is quite probably much wider. What does not happen ICly is often inferred through reasonable expectations and common sense, and through the OOC. The scale of nation RPing can be quite large, but it is not impossible, and should not really be daunting if you are reasonably prepared. Nation RPing isn't all that different from the mainstream; it takes on a much different entity which is RPed, sure, and it has some interesting, if questionable links to other communities. It still has the basic format, all the bells and whistles of a typical character RP though. And, to you, it might seem out-of-place, silly, daunting, who knows? But hopefully this article has cleared it up a bit and brought it a little closer. Alleniana serves as editor of the P2TM Times, and creator of the Historical RP Group in Portal to the Multiverse.

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The P2TM Times Issue Three: Page 4, Since 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 Fantasy Races: The Dwarves By The Starlight In this series of articles, I'll be writing about the relative cliches of many fantasy races, and how to either avoid those, or portray them correctly while adding in your own elements. That will include elves, humans, dwarves, orcs, dragons and more. Common Characteristics Most people know the characteristics of dwarves thanks to the Hobbit films, but I'll go over a few. Dwarves are usually no more than a little over 5 feet. They are proud of their beards, stout, strong, and great smiths and builders, whether those be weapons, toys, or great kingdoms. They generally wield axes, swords or hammers and are known for walking long distances without tiredness when necessary. They are particularly skilled with the arts of metallurgy in most cases. Dwarves also tend to be gruff folk, and females are rarely seen, as dwarves tend to stick to their own. Common foods would be mead, meat and bread, which the dwarves not being particularly keen on a vegetarian diet. The usual dwarf kingdom tends to be inside a mountain, or completely underground. Tips for Making Your Dwarves Unique Climate/Location If you're RPing a nation of dwarves, one option is to put your dwarves in a completely irregular location. You then would have the option of RPing their discontent with their location. Or perhaps they have been forced into an exodus after some tragedy and, after discovering their new home, realize that they like it better in their new home. Or you could make your dwarves accustomed to their climate. Instead of in a mountain, perhaps make them ice dwarves, being skilled in the carving of ice, living in the far North, on the tops of the cold, wintry mountains. Maybe these dwarves are rebels, and make their homes by the sea or in the forest. As always, be creative, and don't be afraid to go outside the norm. Think outside of the box, or better yet, don't even acknowledge the box at all. Rivalries Using LOTR as a prime example, the dwarves have been enemies with the elves for a long time. You may want to enter that into your lore if you have both races in your RP, or want to instill some bitterness into your character. Perhaps some family member or friend was killed in a feud, and that character has hated elves ever since. Or perhaps your dwarf just hates elves for their arrogance. Dwarves usually never forgive nor regret, so that is a possible story-line. Another race that dwarves are commonly known for hating are the orcs. Perhaps the dwarves destroyed the orcs' homeland, or the other way around, and there was no forgiveness in either side ever since. Government A possible idea for a nation of dwarves is to have it be a faction of various clans, held together by a king/queen who conquered them and forced them to unite. Once this ruler dies, there's possibility for several civil wars to break out between clans, to seize the crown. Or perhaps the clans unite against an unjust ruler. The choice is yours, Technology If allowed, you may want to give your dwarf/dwarves a technological advantage of sorts, due to the dwarves being skilled in the building of things. You could give them early muskets, flintlocks, the dwarves having discovered and utilized gunpowder before anyone else. If that's not allowed, don't forget about siege equipment. They make things a whole lot easier in a siege, and dwarves are indeed expert builders. The weaknesses to these would be slow reloading, or costly maintenance and building. Status in World Finally, you may want to change the dwarves' initial status in whatever world that they are in. Dwarven nations tend to be seclusive, and you could start out that way, and emerge into the global trade by opening up borders and initating trade and relations with other nations, opening up the possibility of interactions with other RPers. I hope that this is helpful to any of you planning dwarven characters, races or nations. If you've got any suggestions, as always, TG my main account. Next week, I'll be covering humans. The Starlight serves as a founder and editor-in-chief of the P2TM Times. He is also a RPer in numerous RPs, including Infinite Justice and Children of Infinity. He can be contacted via TG.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue 3: Page 5, Since 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 The Prevalence of Different Genres in the P2TM Community By Constaniana Hullo all! I figured I'd write this article to take a closer look at trends in this overall forum, thinking it would be interesting to go outside my usual few threads and see what other sort of work people around here are up to. I counted up the active roleplays in Portal of the Multiverse, sorting them into various categories mostly plagiarized from the awards ceremony. I'll add some thoughts of my own concerning trends in this sub-forum after presenting the totals, but first off I'd like to say that you lot write a ton. Too much. So many bloody threads to count through; page after page after page. I only got up to calculus in math guys; tallying up these numbers hurts my head. Week of May 17th-23rd, 2015 Categories: Franchise RP's: 27, 20.9% Alternate History/Political: 25, 19.4% Fantasy: 20 (8 high fantasy, 10 other fantasy, 2 god), 15.5% Science Fiction: 16, 12.4% Academy: 11, 8.53% Slice of life type thingmy: 9, 6.98% Superheroes: 6, 4.65% Mechanics-based RPG's: 6, 4.65% War: 5, 3.88% Zombies: 2, 1.55% Survival: 2, 1.55% Total RP's: 129 In the first installment of this column, the top three most popular genres were the franchise, political, and fantasy categories. Within category number one the most popular sources of inspiration were Game of Thrones, Fallout, or Dragon Age, though a few older favorites such as Star Wars and Pokemon were still represented. When it came to the Alternate History category the overwhelming majority were nation-based and set within the previous hundred years. One of the few character roleplays amongst this group I saw was some character piece set in the American Revolution. Overall this genre lends itself much more to playing as overall nations than individuals, it would seem. Fantasy, my favorite, was number three in this list. When it came to this genre there was a slim majority leaning towards more modern fantasy roleplays, where magic and monsters are mixed in with our present world like Elfen High or To Kill a God as opposed to the old-school medieval sort of fantasy with knight in shining armour riding around and such like Elementals. There were also a couple of threads with players being gods in the IC running their own world. One such RP, The Gods of Vinosea, had quite a talented roster of players in it. Another interesting thing I noticed was the Academy genre, which was 5th most popular in the week I surveyed. I had thought their popularity had gone away by now after reaching their zenith in the summer of 2013. I suppose there'll always be academy RP's as long as you have schoolchildren on this forum. Constaniana is a writer for the P2TM Times, along with being the creator/OP of the twice-awarded best high fantasy RP of the year: Elementals.

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The P2TM Times Issue 3: Page 6, Since 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 Official Theme Song By The Starlight By suggestion of New Jordslag, The P2TM Times is looking for an official theme song! If you're intrigued, and have got a good idea, TG the link of the song of your choice to The Starlight. After we've received enough nominations, the editors and I will vote on it and I'll announce the winner in the subsequent issue. We've already got one suggestion from New Jordslag, here, if you would like to listen. The Graveyard at the End of the Multiverse This brilliant idea by Vancon hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as it deserves, so it's being highlighted here in the attempt to garner more attention for it. I don't know about you guys, but I have been in lots of RPs. Some spectacular, others my own, and others still dead before their times. If you haven't done so, I'd advise everyone reading this to take a look at all those old RPs with characters that are gone, but not forgotten. If you feel like every time you lose a character to a dead RP you die a little bit inside, this is the place for you. If not, well, hear me out for a little while longer. The Graveyard at the End of the Multiverse is for that purpose to lay characters to rest, and discuss and relive their greatest moments. I'll let Vancon's words explain how it all works. What is this place? Every RP will eventually die out. That's life kid. Be it premature or not. The characters from those RPs will constantly be in a state of Limbo. We must set them to rest one last time. This will be their final resting place in NS. Not only characters from P2TM, but from the lands of GE&T, II and wherever else a character has resided in during their stay on NationStates. They will be amongst their piers as their time on this good earth goes beyond life. The Graveyard at the End of the Multiverse will be open to the public, so do feel free to come in here and look around. Go to the graves of those who've passed on, and look for yourself as too what they had accomplished. Read about their deeds and actions. Read about who they were. Read so they aren't forgotten. Take inspiration from their lives to build your own characters for whatever you see fit. If someone who's passed through here had an amazing backstory, feel free to base a new character off of it to keep said persona's spirt alive and well. It's our duty to keep them at least in our hearts, and if the citizens of NS far and wide would help me in this, I'd be honored. How to Lay a Character to Rest It's simple really. You can put as much or as little as required for each character. I suggest that you take the successful app that was made for them, if applicable, and post the accepted version here. If during the course of the RP they developed as a person or creature, add it in. Perhaps they had accomplished an amazing feat of excellence. In that case, add it in. If they had a moment in their respective RP that went above and beyond the call, post a link. Add extra stuff to their app. Write about how you enjoyed writing them. Make a point about how they were entertaining to read. In short, post what you feel is needed to best describe them. We should be able to learn about who they are. I'd appreciate it if somewhere you mention in which RP they died or which RP itself died causing said char to pass on.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue 3: Page 7, Since 2015 Monday, June 29, 2015 NS Summer By The Starlight Let's talk about NS Summer, shall we? I'll first start off with a definition of NS Summer from Reploid Productions: Aside from being a meme spun off from Game of Thrones, "NS Summer" and variations such as "Summer already?" and "Sure is summer in here" is a relatively recent term for a phenomenon that the mod team has been aware of since 2003, but really caught the general playerbase's attention around 2012 when the effect was particularly pronounced and enhanced due to the US presidential election that year. It's been known by other names prior to that, mostly along the lines of the "summer nazi invasion." Basically, during the summer months in the northern hemisphere, most school age children and teens in North America and Europe (the lion's share of our users come from these regions) are on summer break from school. So you get a large number of bored and/or inadequately-supervised kids with too much free time looking to stir up trouble and get attention that find their way to the site to troll, flame, spam, and generally make a nuisance of themselves. One of the easiest ways to do this on the internet of course, is to drop some Nazi-flavored rhetoric, which lead to the perception prior to 2012 of a summertime invasion of nazi trolls. Generic nonsense spam and porn spam are also not unusual, but the wannabe Nazis do tend to stick out more for some reason. The "NS Summer" period runs from roughly mid-May to the beginning of September, and during that span of time the mods see a marked increase in rulebreaking behavior (in especially bad years, roughly 50% or more compared to the non-summer months.) Most of this tends to come from very new nations rather than more experienced players, and they tend to have very short lifespans, whether due to getting deleted or from being abandoned because the owners got bored. Typically the tail end of August is when it really peaks, as you've got younger students running out of summer break, and returning or new university students going to the dorms and going a little crazy for whatever reasons. There's a similar spike at the end of December into early January, mirroring the general vicinity of schools taking winter break, but the winter spike is both shorter in duration and much less noticeable in intensity than the summer months. My best guess as to why is that 1) winter break is usually shorter than summer break, and 2) people are busy with the winter holidays and too preoccupied with friends/family/parties and such to have as much free time for troublemaking. Well, summer is definitely here, and school is off for many of our younger fellows(including myself). P2TM also experiences this wave of very new nations, joining in RPs. With poor grammar, and inability to follow direct instructions and other grievances, NS Summer can be very, very annoying for some RPers whom have stuck around. Don't get antagonized by trolling, that will lead to no good. However, NS Summer can come to good. Some people realize that they like the community and improve their habits, and become valuable members. I, myself starting posting on the forums during the summer, and while I wasn't too bad, I've definitely improved. So do try to be patient with our newer RPers, and somewhat understanding, that with time and help, they can and will improve. There's no need to make fun of these newer RPers for poor BBcoding or something else. In order to improve the community even further, pitching to help even if you aren't a mentor can and will make a difference. After all, how can they learn if nobody will show them? On that note, remember that thread ownership exists in P2TM, and if the trolling gets too bad, you have the right to ask them to leave, and, if they do not comply, post a report thread in Moderation. As a OP, be both firm and understanding. Who knows, you might find some diamonds in the rough? Note: Neither I, nor the P2TM Times are advocating trolling and all else that comes out of the events of NS Summer.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Four: Page 1, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 The State of the Multiverse By The Starlight And we're back once again folks! Let's start with franchise based RPs this week for a change, shall we? First up is Stormwarth's In Memorial of the Fallen is based on the anime series of RWBY. Then we've got The New Sea Territory's Resurgence, based on the Fallout series, and apparently the seventh in their RP series. Sword Art Online may be one you're interested in if you know the anime, OPed by the Tophat Empire. And there's a Game of Thrones RP in Arana's The Rising Sun. If you're a Halo fan, you might want to take a look at Eclipse, created by Beiarusia. Next up are P2TM's historical RPs. There's G-Tech's 1503 AD: The New World, Australian Antarctica's Cold War Espionage RP called A War in the Shadows, Terrelis' 2035: From the Ashes, and Of the Quendi's 1821: Napoleon's Victory. As for fantasy RPs, there's Apple-Loosa's CYRIMDIR: Whispering in the Dark, TriStates' AFTER WORLDand Imperialisium's The World of Gaea. Also featuring this week are Shyluz's The Compass Association, Nude East Ireland's Darkness and Depravities 2: The Subtitle and Naval Monte's Vim: Of Steam Alchemy and Arcane Science. Regarding horror RPs, there is Lavan Tiri's The Terror of Ravenshead and The Apocalyptic Survivors' Infection: A Zombie Char RP. If you're looking for a crime RP, Reverend Norv's neo noir RP called Likely Lads may be for you. Well, that's all I've got for this issue. It's a bit shorter this week, as I try not to include too many RPs more than once. If you've got any suggestions of things to add to this, or you want one of your RPs added to the list, as always, TG The Starlight or post in the discussion thread. Until next time, farewell! Featured RPs List: Franchise RPs: In Memorial of the Fallen Fallout: Resurgence Sword Art Online Game of Thrones: The Rising Sun Halo: Eclipse Historical RPs: 1503 AD: The New World A War in the Shadows 2035: From the Ashes 1821: Napoleon's Victory Fantasy RPs: CYRIMDIR: Whispering in the Dark AFTER WORLD The World of Gaea The Compass Association Darkness and Depravities 2: The Subtitle Vim: Of Steam Alchemy and Arcane Science Horror RPs: The Terror of Ravenshead Infection: A Zombie Char RP Crime RPs: Likely Lads

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The P2TM Times Issue 4: Page 2, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 The Art of War, or: Roleplaying Modern Combat and/or Warfare in a Character RP By The Has Science Gone Too Far of Ayreonia Combat is a fact of life for the majority of roleplay characters in P2TM. OPs use armed conflict with other humans or comparable sentients as a way of creating danger and tension in a RP, and there are many, many works for which it is the main focus, be they actual war RPs or not. Despite this, it is often written either poorly or in such an unrealistic way that some might find their disbelief suspended by extremely thin lines. I'm Ayreonia, and I'm here to give you a few pointers that will hopefully improve your combat roleplay so that it will be more enjoyable to both read and write. Note that my knowledge is based on (and biased by) my training and role as a mechanized infantryman in the Finnish Defence Forces Army and my lengthy conversations with combat veterans whose experiences range from World War II to the more recent crises in the Middle East and Africa. You might disagree or find me wrong, in which case please contact me so I might amend this article and learn something new myself. Why Include Combat In Your RP? As mentioned above, combat and armed conflict are extremely common in P2TM roleplays. Delving into the reasons for this would require an article for itself, so let's simply list some of them: the addition of tension and danger, power fantasy, a human being's inherently violent nature, or a simple interest in the subject. The list could go on and on. This is in no way exclusive to roleplaying, but rather the case with most forms of fiction. When used to its full potential, fighting can be a very powerful tool of character growth. It establishes how well our characters react to mortal danger. It puts their moral standards to the test, not only making them ponder if killing to achieve one's goal is acceptable, but leaving them no choice but to choose instantly. It may make and break friendships by showing one how others react. In short, it brings out both the best and worst in us. When not done properly, it's usually just players showcasing how badass their characters are and wasting time before moving on to more meaningful interactions. OPs, think twice before thrusting your group into yet another firefight. Does it actually have a purpose? If it doesn't reinforce character growth or isn't relevant to the plot, it's probably pointless. Players, work on not making your character react to every standoff violently, unless that's how you've built that character from the beginning (note: this is a bad idea, but we won't be touching on it in this piece). Straightening The Facts Combat isn't something many players here have practical experience with. This is a Good Thing. At the same time, we are under constant assault by depictions of war from movies, novels, and video games whose basis in reality is, generously speaking, dubious. This is a Bad Thing. "But Ayreonia," you may say, "I'm not stupid. I don't actually believe those depictions are even remotely close to the real deal. I do my research." Thank you, Hypothetical Reader, for making it easy for me to carry on. I apologize in advance for any hurt feelings, but this simply has to be said: your research is probably inadequate. To some extent, we are all influenced by portrayals in the media, whether we realize it or not. Reading Wikipedia articles, watching documentaries or being in an airsoft team do not make you, me, or anyone else experts on the subject, nor does it erase the conditioning we are subjected to. Few people have the gall to claim so (although some do), but very many secretly think that way. There's a bunch of them to be found in other, darker corners of this very site, and the common and derogatory nomer for them rhymes with "schmarmchair schmenerals." It's easy and pleasant to think one is knowledgeable, but the aforementioned ways of gathering information about combat and warfare are about as effective as reading a book on parenthood is a way to make one a good father. It is a whole lot better than nothing, but it should not bring hubris. This is why my first and most important piece of advice is learn some humility. If you had or wanted to ignore or forget everything else I've written, remember this. We've all been, at some point in both our lives and careers as RPers, fallen victim to unwarranted arrogance. Avoid it at all costs. If this sounds obvious to you, great! If not, read the preceding paragraphs over and over again until it does. The Importance And Danger Of Detail A long time ago on another forum, there was a member who basically taught me how to roleplay better than terribly. She always said that there were three things one should remember to create immersive and interesting posts: detail, detail and detail. I'd still say it's sound advice, especially for new players who have trouble coming up with enough content for their posts. At some point, however, simply adding more detail will actually start subtracting from post quality, and that point is a player's lack of knowledge. As I wrote above, thinking you know something while not actually doing so is destructive to your RPing, and it can damage your reputation and credibility for a long time. Work with what you know. Do you know that it's a good idea to check one's weapons before entering combat? Write about your character doing it. Don't know what that actually entails? No problem. In virtually every case, it's completely fine to omit the details. If you do know how to perform a weapons check and want to describe your character going through the steps, great! However, unless you want your character to come across as incompetent (or an idiot), do not, under any circumstances, include something like them firing a few bursts into the air to check if their gun works, or stripping and cleaning their rifle as if for an inspection if there's a possibility of imminent contact. These examples are obviously exaggerated for effect, but you get the point. This is especially frustrating if it affects other players, too. Say you're playing as a part of a squad that's pinned down by an enemy tank. It's a tense situation that will take all the skill, cunning and bravery the members of said squad can muster. In other words, it's fun to play. Now imagine there's someone in the group who, by authority of having played lots of first-person shooters, knows you can blow a tank up by using a hand grenade, so they have their character yell "Cover me!", sprints out and takes the tank out with a well-placed throw, only to be taken aback by the lack of praise in the OOC. Grenades explode, after all, so what's the problem? Firstly, that player has demonstrated an utter disregard for the importance of teamwork and interactive play, and secondly, while anti-tank grenades are a thing, the classic hand grenade we know and love (and fear) is a fragmentation device that, instead of the commonly portrayed fiery explosion, produces a small puff and oh my god, there's a hundred little holes from my crotch to my nipples. Bottom line: don't write about things you don't know. Avoid jargon whose meaning isn't completely clear to you. It's fine to omit details if they aren't necessary. If unsure, ask. If nobody knows the answer, google it. Examples of common mistakes in a military/war context Mistake: using inconsistent or wrong units and/or unit sizes and their leaders. Solution: if you don't know what unit you should use, say "unit," or "troop," or "group." If you don't know what rank the leader should hold, say "leader," or "boss," etc. Mistake: bigger round = more firepower. Solution: it's unnecessary to specify the type of round you're using. It adds flavor, but it's unnecessary. Mistake: Alpha-charlie, flank the JDAM fire-and-maneuver team's twenty-seven o'clock, over! Solution: Don't use jargon, terms and/or slang you're unfamiliar with. Mistake: Tanks are either invincible killing machines or made of gasoline-coated paper. Solution: Tanks are a type of combat unit with strengths and weaknesses, like everything else. Mistake: Conscripts are terrible soldiers who are deployed by hurling them at the enemy en masse. Solution: Conscripts can be as brave, skilled and motivated as a professional soldier, and like professionals, they're valuable assets with a great deal of time and money invested in. Good leaders treat them as such. Mistake: OOC: I've killed a ton of tin cans with my daddy's shotgun, so... Solution: Don't. The Perfect Warrior When applying for a roleplay, you should craft your character or characters to the best of your abilities. This is, of course, the case with combat-based and war RPs as well. Creating a good character is always a challenge, and there are some specific hurdles to it in the kinds of RPs this article touches upon. One particularly common problem with soldier/warrior/fighter characters is the lack of real weaknesses. These kinds of characters are very often (more than usual, I'd dare claim) an outlet for the players themselves, making them nigh-invincible power fantasy badasses who can calmly mow down scores of enemies and at the same time be funny and charming when the guns fall silent. The usual "weaknesses" include PTSD and alcoholism, which are crippling problems in real life, but often downplayed in RP, included in the character sheet only to make the ultimate warfighter look more three-dimensional. PTSD is not a weakness if nothing ever triggers it. Alcoholism has no meaning if your character can drink as much and often as they wish and never suffer ill effects from it. On the other end of the spectrum are the ultimate cowards. These aren't nearly as common as the unbeatable war heroes, but they pop up from time to time. This is a person who curls up in a ball and begs for death at the first sign of trouble, forgetting all training and ignoring survival instincts. Not only is this extremely boring to both read and write, but unless the RP has PC deaths, a character like this is going to needlessly complicate the action. It's possible to pull this one off, but unless you're one hundred percent certain in your abilities (and actually have the skills to back your confidence up), I'd suggest against it. What should you do, then? Combatants are human beings, and no human is ever perfect (or perfectly useless). You can make a purposefully competent character fail and fumble occasionally without making them seem like an idiot. Similarly, a timid, scared character can pull off sudden acts of bravery or prowess. Make them react to their own actions, and you don't make them break character. The Has Science Gone Too Far of Ayreonia is a joint winner of the "Best War RPer" award of 2014, and the creator of two award-winning roleplays, Pretty Okay Company and Postapocalyptia, for which there is a currently ongoing reboot.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Four: Page 3, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 Fantasy Races: The Humans By The Starlight In this series of articles, I'll be writing about the relative cliches of many fantasy races, and how to either avoid those, or portray them correctly while adding in your own elements. That will include elves, humans, dwarves, orcs, dragons and more. We've already covered the elves and the dwarves, click on the links to go directly to those articles Humans in Fantasy Humans tend to be the elephants in the room when it comes to fantasy. That's because humans are usually those most reproductive. Humans also tend not to have a sense of honor and elegance, as the elves do, nor the sort of tight-knit community you get with the dwarves. I know I'm trashing my own race here, but bear with me. In fantasy, humans are the ones not afraid to get their hands dirty, and they also possess exceptional willpower, usually following the mentality that "I can do whatever I set my mind to", and that's generally correct. Humans also aren't generally artists, gardeners, loremasters or miners like the elves and dwarves respectively. Significant populations need food to survive and continue to grow, and so most humans in fantasy tend to be either farmers, traders, or something that will provide food as an end-product. Also, for humans, there's always three constants: greed, stubbornness, and war. Tips for Making Your Human(s) Unique Kingdoms If you're worldbuilding and you plan for your world to have a high population of humans, you might want to add several human kingdoms. Perhaps it was once one great empire(maybe even use the Roman Empire as an example), but after the emperor died, the empire split and these separate kingdoms are at war with each other, or at least have unfriendly relations. And of course, there will be different factions fighting for control within each kingdom. External Rivalries with Other Races While dwarves vs elves is pretty much a constant now in fantasy, humans have no out and out enemies or long-lasting feuds in most common fantasy. Usually it's internal instead of external, but of course, you could always add both conflicts. External conflicts could be based on an assassination of a ruler, or a dispute over borders, or even the next ruler having blood of both sides. As always, be creative! Government Another option, if your RP is taking place within a human realm, is to have the emperor die before you begin the OOC, and then have players be different characters or houses fighting for control. Even better if the ruler left no heirs, or the heirs are illegitimate, or incapable, or even too young. A great example of this would be my very own To Fell an Empire 3.0, a sadly deceased medieval fantasy RP. Actual History RL history can be a great inspiration for either a character or realm of any kind. There are so many ancient civilizations to base your human(s) on, whether it's the Mongols, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Japanese, Chinese, Persians, Aztecs, and etc. Whether it's culture or climate, RL stuff can help quite a lot, and you can of course take a bit from one civilization and a bit from another. You could even use modern history and conflicts, borrowing some of them for your own RPs. When in doubt, look to ancient, actual history, and most of the time, you'll find something that you can use. Climate/Culture/History For a human race, much of their current history depends on the past, as it is for other races as well. With harsh climates, a human civilization in your RP could shape their entire culture and way of life around the changes in weather, or its consistency. Or an ancient war could create lore and mystery for the humans living hundreds, if not thousands of years later. Over hundreds of years, weather will shape the way humans live, and as the human race in pretty much all literature and fantasy is a stubborn one, humans survive. That survival instinct is the thing that drives them, us, and that ability to adapt, and that willpower to survive makes humans a force to be reckoned with in any fantasy world. I hope that this is helpful to any of you planning human characters, races or nations. If you've got any suggestions or questions, as always, TG my main account. Next week, I'll be covering orcs or dragons, I'm not totally sure yet. The Starlight serves as a founder and editor-in-chief of the P2TM Times. He is the winner of the 2014 Best High Fantasy RPer Award and is also a RPer in numerous RPs, including Infinite Justice and Children of Infinity. He can be contacted via TG.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Four: Page 4, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 The Shipping Corner By New Jordslag Welcome, NS Shippers, to the shipping list of ultimate doom! Shipping, for those not in the know, is wishing for two people, whether real or fictional, to be in a relationship. Ships are in anime, manga, novels, games- Hell, some people on NS even ship characters from RPs! The shipping community is vast, and we all have different tastes. While I wasn't able to gather that many ships for my first one, hopefully it'll generate enough publicity to allow the making of a second. So here goes! P2TM RP Ships Laurence (Laura x Clarence) from the reboot of To Kill a God Laurence. Ah, Laurence. I, uh, don't know what to say, really. The Laura x Clarence ship doesn't really have that much material. What it does have, however, is emotion. The shipping scenes are adorable, and one can clearly tell that what little it has is well put together. If you want a short and easy ship to read, go read about them. HMS Nikembor (Aris x Ellyn) from Children of Infinity HMS Nikembor (Or Artisticshipping, because I think that's a way cooler name) is a... Unique ship. Aris is a musician. Ellyn is an artist. They go together like peanutbutter and jelly. This is by far my favorite ship that I have seen on NS. No offense to people who have other favorites; I just think their scenes together we're beautiful, emotional, and even a little but tragic. You could tell they weren't complete without one another. At the height of the shipping, Aris and Ellyn sang together. I nearly broke down reading that song, because the posts were so well written I could almost hear them singing it. It was glorious. Sadly, the ship is currently on hold, but if you have time, go read their posts together. I enjoyed all of it, because it was graceful and well-done. Now, I'm not sure what the shipping name is, but it's Tristan x Lisoette, from Elementals: The Black Beast. It's not my favorite, but what it is is the fluffiness ship I have yet seen on this website. Seriously. For those unaware of what fluff is, it's ships that are so cute and innocent that they make you squeal in delight. And this tops the fluffiness of every other ship I've seen, with the exceptions of my Pokemon Ships. Seriously, I couldn't stop giggling while reading their posts. And the post where Lisoette first kissed Tristan... I didn't get off the floor for a while, is all I'm saying. Great ship, not for those who hate cute things. Burningleafshipping (Red x Leaf) from Pokemon Firered and Leafgreen. This is among my favorite ships. Red is the original Pokemon Trainer, and has some of the most badass fan art of all time. In the remakes of the Originals, Firered and Leafgreen, he has a female counterpart for the first time, Leaf. They can never appear at the same time in the game. If you choose to play as one, the other simply does not exist. But things like that don't matter to shippers, and it is a really cute pairing. Darksteelshipping (Steven Stone x Cynthia) from multiple Pokemon Games. This is my favorite ship ever. Well, my favorite ship from Pokemon. Basically, both of them are gigantic nerds, and that's what makes them lovable. Steven loves Rocks and caves and Steel, and he certainly likes history. Cynthia is obsessed with history and myths, but she likes the Earth, too, and all the stones within it. It's as Nerdy as Pokemon Pairings come, and it is so adorable. Kanokido (Kano x, well, Kido) from Kagerou Days. This is my actual favorite ship. The Liar and the Hider. It's adorable. I don't even really know why. Is it because Kano is a mischievous bastard whose power is that he can disguise himself as anyone and anything? Is it because Kido hates his lying, and because she's so adorably shy? Is it because they're just too damned cute? Who knows? But what I can say is that they have a large enough fan base to have their own fanmade manga, as well as one of the largest fan fiction communities and a Photo Album's worth of Fanart. I highly recommend it. Naegiri (Naegi x Kirigiri) from Danganronpa. Ah, Naegiri. For those who haven't watched Danganonpa, it's pretty much a reality show gone wrong, hosted by a sadistic stuffed teddy bear who encourages kids to murder each other for rewards, but if the other students can prove that a person did the murder, that person gets executed. Naegi is the luckiest (or unluckiest, if you view it that way) son of a bitch to ever exist. Kirigiri is has great detective skills. The both of them, combined, are the ones who manage to catch the other students who committed murder. They both survive, and it really is a cute pairing. Ferriswheelshipping (N x Hilda) from Pokemon Black/White. There is little to describe the straight up glory of Ferriswheelshipping. It works because it doesn't work. It's genius because it's so stupid. N is the main antagonist of the original Black/White, and is my favorite antagonist so far. He has completely good intentions- But when you've grown up in a castle all your life knowing only what your manipulative Father wanting to grab Power told you, good intentions do not exactly equal good ideas. Hilda is the Yin to N's Yang. She's the opposite of everything he is; N is tall, idealistic, and dare I say it, even a little feminine. Hilda, by contrast, is short, tomboyish, and honest. Oh, but one similarity is that they both have ponytails. And even that's a difference! N's ponytail is ragged and thin, while Hilda's ponytail is wide and straight. So what could possibly keep the fandom going? Well, you know the saying opposites attract. Bonus: The shipping gets it's name from an in-game event where N and Hilbert/Hilda ride on a Ferris wheel together. Setomary (Seto x, uh, Mary) from Kagerou Days. It's like fluff exists only to satisfy this ship. Seriously- even Tristan x Lisoette, king ship of all NS Fluffiness, doesn't even compare. This is adorable beyond comparison. A description just isn't fitting for it; simply look it up and see what I mean. Bonus: Although Seto, the boy, is 16 and she's physically 14, she's actually way older than him; every 10 of our years equals one of her years. She's actually 140. Yeah. Gratsu (Gray x Natsu) from Fairy Tail. Gratsu; Fluffiness doesn't even want to touch it. But what it lacks in fluffiness, it makes up for in badassery. Seriously- Gray and Natsu are the Ego Masters of Fairy Tail. Naturally, their egos conflict often, and their fighting is so hilarious that people began to ship them. They're both badasses, but they can't stand each other; one is a master of fire, one is a master of ice. Opposites attract, I suppose. Kalosshipping (Calem x Serena) from Pokemon X and Y Kalosshipping. The one shipping where people actually care more about what outfits the two are wearing than their setting. Not that I mind that; X and Y has a lot of cool locations, and their idea of allowing the players to dress as they wish is genius, pure and simple. But they're sort of strange, compared to other Poke Protagonist shippings. When one compares their designs to those of older protagonists, one starts feeling that Calem and Serena's design is needlessly complicated. It's not; It's actually rather simple. But Pokemon has come a long way from slapping a red jacket and red hat on some 11 year old kid and calling it a day. What I'm saying is, if you like stylish clothes, you should probably check out this ship. Last but not least, Alexandrianshipping (Jasmine x Volkner), from Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Alexandrianshipping is awesome. Just straight up awesome. Jasmine is seemingly an innocent little girl, until you battle her and she trolls your team with her Ultra-Tough Steelix. She is the definition of unintentional deception. Meanwhile, there's Volkner. The last Gym Leader in the Sinnoh Region, he focuses on Electric Types. But damn- He's so depressed by the time you reach him. It's kind of sad, really. Why is he depressed? He's so powerful that he wins too easily. Much like Pokemon stops being actual fun once you have 6 Level 100 Shiny Arceuses, he's having no fun because he crushes everyone like puny bugs. That is, until you reach him. Anyway, both of their respective cities have Light Houses, and this shipping started because Jasmine was visiting Volkner's Lighthouse when you reach his city. They thought it would be cute and help cheer him up if they were together. Because seriously. He does need to cheer up. There are plenty more ships out there that I would recommend, but I don't want to provide too many ships for one article. So please, don't hesitate to send your favorite ships in! Any contribution is welcomed. New Jordslag serves as a editor of the P2TM Times. He also takes part in several RPs such as Children of Infinity and Pokemon: Fall of Hoenn. He can be contacted via TG.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue 4: Page 5, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 On Horror Roleplays By The Green Lantern Corps of Lavan Tiri The Shining. The Silence of the Lambs. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. What do all these books have in common? All their names begin with "The"? They were all written by men? They're all older than the person writing this? Yes, yes, and yes. But the biggest commonality they have is their genre: Horror. Horror, tales meant to give you chills, to make you doubt your own safety, even protected by the fourth wall. Stories meant, quite simply, to terrify readers. Horror stories and ghost tales are some of the oldest stories in the world, and there is a wealth of story ideas to draw from them. So why have so few people here taken advantage of this massive amount of potential inspiration? Why are there so few good, long-lived horror RPs? This article, of course, intends to address what I think are the three main reasons for this: Inspiration, Interest, and Difficulty. Let's begin with the first on that list: Inspiration. To make an RP, you must have some sort of idea behind it. Everyone understands this. Thus, Inspiration is a driving force behind every RP. Some RPs will state what inspired their creation: A TV show, a book, a movie. With others, you might have to guess if you're some obsessive who wants to know that stuff. But how does this relate to horror RPs? Well, simply, people just don't seem to be inspired to make horror RPs. They might be a huge fan of Lovecraft and King, but someone probably won't make a horror roleplay. Why? Well, this is perhaps the simplest of the three principles. Those who have been in this community for a while have seen those horror RPs that have been attempted fail, so they know that it's hard to drum up Interest, and even when you do, there's still that Difficulty. The next obstacle to making a good, long-lived horror RP, is Interest. For an RP to succeed, it needs Interest. RPs like Elfen Highand Personification Life obviously have a (pardon my French) metric crap-ton of interest, even from those who don't participate in them. Now, there are lots of ways to drum up interest. You could post your RP or idea in the Travelers Cafe, or post your RP in the advertisement thread. You could contact those who you know will be interested, and ask them to join. Or, you could join an RP region (like the Apartment Block) or group (like the Council of the Multiverse), and advertise there. No matter how you do it, your RP needs Interest. But, overall, personal experience has taught me that horror RPs don't drum up a lot of Interest. Why is this? I can't answer that, honestly. Perhaps it's just not someone's favorite genre. Perhaps your OP is sloppily constructed. Perhaps Max Barry is conspiring against you. For whatever reason, horror RPs don't seem to get much Interest. The next obstacle is Difficulty. In real life, there are a great deal of utterly terrifying books. Stephen King has made a crap-ton of money off of scaring people. But those horror RPs that even make it to the IC don't actually seem that scary, even if the OP does their best to give their players nightmares. But, is this truly the OP's fault? Even non-horror RPs can still be rather scary at parts, so why do horror RPs fail to do the thing they exist to do? Honestly, I have no freaking idea. Maybe someday, someone smarter than me will figure this out. Until then, P2TM will continue to suffer from a depressing lack of thrills and chills. And, because I don't want to end this on a somber note, I'll end it on a horrifying one: a bit of blatant self-advertisement for my new RP, The Terror of Ravenshead, a Lovecraftian thriller. Woo, yay! The Green Lantern Corps of Lavan Tiri is a first-time contributor to the Times, as well as a Speaker of the Council of the Multiverse, OP of several RPs, most of which have died, and a Co-OP of TriStates upcoming After World RP. He can be contacted via Telegram, and will always answer back.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Four: Page 6, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 A year in retrospect: The Development of a RPer and How to Act Towards the Newbies By The Tophat Empire Sep 26, 2014. On that day I joined Nations States, I was sitting with my school laptop and had just won a poke war on facebook. Randomly looking for things to do i found this website and made a account, i thought that it might entertain me for a week or so. Never did I think that it would in the end become one of my biggest time sinks. I remember joining a region called Planetstates, a FT region. Not that I knew what FT, MT or any of that meant, and having spent some time reading the region's IC I made my first post. It's sufficient to say the post in question was horrid, not to mention unexpected. But nonetheless I continued on, after sometime Planetstates died, and I started to search for a new region. This was a few days before the Halloween event, that was when I came across the region Intergalactic Federacy. Having had a small TG conversation with the WA Delegate, I got the password and joined in. And there I stayed, until recently, 4th of June to be precise. During this time I slowly grew better and better at producing text. From 1 line being standard, to paragraphs being standard. During this time I also realized how many types of RPs there were, and how many different types of RPers and persons there where on this website. We have character Rps, to RPs encompassing galaxies and dimensions. From RPs about gods, to those about a common school girl/boy. From Furries, to Communists, and everything else. I recently stumbled across this lovely newspaper, the P2TM Times, and found the article written by The Starlight regarding NS Summer, and at one point he states that older nations should be nice and understanding towards the new ones. This threw my mind into deep thought about how I personally see the newest nations, I, whom just 1 year ago did not have a single clue about what I was doing. And I realized that I might not be as accepting of the newest nations as I should. I've have seen some older nations acting like outright assholes towards a new one only because they do not use BBcodes, or because they do not write the “proper” way. I now ask you this; How do you act when you find a new nation making a mistake in a thread you OP, or CO-OP? Do you instantly condemn them? or do you maybe send them a TG explaining the problems and how to address them? I just want to finish this with a quote from The Starlight's article from last issue: As a OP, be both firm and understanding, but change it to As a player, be both firm and understanding. For we all do make mistakes in the beginning. The Tophat Empire is a first-time writer for The P2TM Times, along with being the OP of Sword Art Online and a participator in several other RPs.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Four: Page 7, Since 2015 Wednesday, July 15, 2015 RP Advertisements Fallout: Miami Vice: A fairly open ended Fallout RP. Only real limit is that it takes place in Miami/Southern Florida. IC is up, all things are clear. Just need more people. It is both a character and faction RP, so you may do one or both, although it is required you fill out an app for your leader if you make a faction. WE NEED ALL THE PEOPLE WE CAN! SHOW UP! Pokemon: Fall of Hoenn: Fall of Hoenn is a RP about Pokemon, as any hardcore Pokemon Gamer will be able to figure out. It is basically Pokemon, but darker, grittier, and probably with more blood and guts than every previous Pokemon RP combined. Collaboration between Templar High Council and New Jordslag, it is set in the Pokemon Region of Hoenn, of course, the setting for Generation III Pokemon games. Basically, every bad guy team from every Pokemon Game teams up, takes over most of Hoenn, except for the Southern Islands, which remain loyal to the old Hoenn Government. You can either be Villains or members of the Resistance, or, even more shockingly, Rangers! This is quite likely the first pokemon RP to allow you to play as a Pokemon Trainer or a Pokemon Ranger. For those of you who don't know what a Ranger is, probably because you only play the core games, basically they wield things called Capture Stylers, make Pokemon follow them around for a limited amount of time, and fight bad guys in an effort to protect the environment. But I continue. Billionaire Gem collector and former Pokemon League Champion Steven Stone is the head of the Resistance, while Giovanni is the head of the Villains. Ah, but I forgot the most important part! You see, The Villains have set up something called Pokejammers in Ever Grande City, the capital of Hoenn. They prevent regular Pokeballs from being used for any reason. The only Pokeballs that can be used are the Pokeballs manufactured by... the Villains, which are called Rule Balls. Naturally, the Resistance has to steal Rule Balls in order to catch Pokemon. Introduction: As of April 20th, 2015, an invasion of the large, industrial region of Hoenn has commenced by an Organization calling themselves the Rule Coalition. Landing points were at Slateport, Lilycove, Mossdeep, and Ever Grande City. All were quickly captured, as the Invaders had the aid of a mysterious device called a 'Pokejammer', which rendered normal Pokeballs all but ineffective. This terrifying new device let the Coalition swiftly capture mainland Hoenn in a matter of days. While there was resistance from the Pokemon Ranger Bases, it was scattered and easily crushed. Certain Gym Leaders and members of the Elite Four fled to Dewford, one of the last free ports, and set up a Provisional Government there. Other Gym Leaders and Elites, however, defected to the other side, surrendering without a fight. Total casualties of the initial invasion were amazingly tiny... for the Coalition. During the weak resistance from the Rangers during the Invasion, merely 20 Coalition Pokemon were captured and sent away. Around 30 Rangers were captured, the largest single surrender of Rangers in Ranger history. Meanwhile, rumors are flying that a Coalition invasion of Dewford is impending. The Rule Coalition, commanded by a Mr. Giovanni, refuses to confirm this. Mr. Giovanni had this to say about the situation: "We invaded to bring stability and prosperity to the Hoenn region. The Rangers are a leech that feeds off your taxes, and what do they do? They beat up anybody who resists. They have far too much power for a private organization. The time has come for somebody to teach them a lesson. To do this, we must utilize the resources of the Hoenn Region to their full effect. We apologize for the terror of anybody affected by the invasion." However, Steven Stone, Ex-Pokemon Champ, leader of the Dewford Government and collector of rare stones, had something quite different to say: "They invaded to institute their total domination of your lives. If they win, the people and Pokemon of Hoenn shall no longer be free. The Rangers and Gym Leaders of Hoenn work to protect the people and Pokemon exactly from terrors like this. We can't exactly let them go defenseless, now can we?" The conclusion to this conflict between the Coalition and the Dewford Government remains to be seen; but despite incoming Ranger backup, things do not look well for Steven Stone. The Athena Program: A group of the world's finest men and women take on the alien menace. Fight as one of 13 different classes, kill aliens, and maybe just maybe, more classes will come out. Drawing it's inspiration from Xcom, Ghost Recon and all that is sci-fi, Athena caters to those who have a need to prove themselves as the savior of humanity. Day one of the IC, and 2 missions are already on the table. Enlist today, and fight the alien menace tomorrow. Sword Art Online: In late 2022 a technology known as NeverGear have appeared, this technology, which exists in the shape of a helmet with the same name. It allows for the user to enter a virtual world that looks like the real one, allowing for untold depth and immersion for games. In November 2022 a game called Sword Art Online was released, 10,000 copies in the first batch. However, when the player once found them self in the world; they were unable to leave. The game creator Kayaba Akihiko revealed that to exit the game they would need to beat all 100 floors, and that if they died in the game they died in real life. It’s now February of 2023 and thus far only the first 3 floors have been cleared, with the boss room being on the 4th floor.

[The P2TM Times]

The P2TM Times Issue Five: Page 1, Since 2015 Friday, August 7, 2015 The State of the Multiverse By The Starlight And here we go, Issue Five of the P2TM Times. I'm glad this has gone quite better than I've expected, and the diversity of the articles has been steadily increasing to various genres and topics. Starting off with fantasy RPs for this Issue, first up is Amergos, a medieval fantasy RP where players are various fantasy kingdoms. P2TM also has a Elder Scrolls RP in Ascension, so fans of that series should check that out. If you're looking for a Modern Fantasy RP, Atlannia's The Clockwork Games might be for you. On the other hand, if you have a craving for a RP taking place in the times of pirates, Lancearc's The Queen's Fleet might peak your interest. There's also Yuzhou's Clan Song, Lavan Tiri's Tales of Alamaek and Katyuscha's Gold & Glory. As for superhero RPs, there's Personal Freedom's The New Gotham, which specifically takes place in the DC Universe city of Gotham. Also featuring this week is Unified Korea Peninsula's Might Makes Right, a RP in the mold of Steelheart, if you've read the book. The Heroes Association also makes the list, along with The Need of the Many. If you're looking into deity RPs, there's The Pantheon of Drinda, along with Prumia's As Gods Are We. Tarnen also has a RP dealing with the supernatural in Division Six. Another interesting RP is A Nightmarish Land of Pagans, Magic, and Rodents, of which I'm not quite sure how to describe. Oh, and Vancon's Legend of the 82nd. New Gothica also has a Civilization RP up. For a academy RP about students possessing superpowers, check out Shyluz's Edwin's Home for the Extraordinarily Gifted, or EHEG for short. Now, on to the sci-fi and future tech RPs. The Fallen Enemies of Our Destiny is one, along with The Last Colonies, The Forgotten Planet, Dead Men from the Past. And wrapping up this article will be the historical and alternate historical RPs. 2015: The Real World features this week, along with Guns, Drums, and Steel, taking place in 1853. There's 2016: A World at War, Sleeps the Sun, taking place in a post-apoc 1830. And finally, there's 1850: Alternative Divergence, 2019: The Shattered World, and Cold War Rising. If you've got any suggestions of things to add to this, or you want one of your RPs added to the list, as always, TG The Starlight or post in the discussion thread. Until next time, farewell! Featured RPs List: Fantasy RPs: Amergos The Elder Scrolls: Ascension The Clockwork Games The Queen's Fleet Clan Song Tales of Alamaek Gold & Glory Deity RPs: The Pantheon of Drinda As Gods Are We. Miscellaneous RPs: Division Six A Nightmarish Land of Pagans, Magic, and Rodents Legend of the 82nd Civilization RP Edwin's Home for the Extraordinarily Gifted Sci-Fi/FT RPs: The Fallen Enemies of Our Destiny The Last Colonies The Forgotten Planet Dead Men from the Past Historical RPs: 2015: The Real World Guns, Drums, and Steel 2016: A World at War Sleeps the Sun 1850: Alternative Divergence 2019: The Shattered World. Cold War Rising