Roleplaying Tips and Suggestions

[Ecelea]

There are some regions that act as a single country, with each "nation" in them being a province/state, if I recall, you might want to do some searching on the find-a-region megathread or something like that.

[Grand Britannia]

I recommend you look into devolved governments and straight up federalism seem it sounds like what you're looking.

[Gugaina]

Would it be better just to make colonies? Not states? Because I don't want it to act like the European union.

[New World Oceania]

Would it be better just to make colonies? Not states? Because I don't want it to act like the European union.

Nations like the United States and Canada are called federations. They feature a central government with most of the power, and several state governments which have separate powers of their own. In a nation like the US, the states have the original power, while the federal government has only specific, reserved powers.

Many other countries, like the United Kingdom, devolve powers to local and regional governments. The central government (in what is called a unitary state) has all of the power and can overrule the smaller governments, but the smaller governments usually control parts of their governance like public services.

For countries with just a few areas that need special, state-like powers, they can grant regions autonomy. China gives Hong Kong the autonomy to govern itself.

Lastly, bodies like the European Union and the United Nations are just assemblies of countries. They have no standing army or any way to enforce laws, so their agreements are only binding insofar as their constituent nation states agree to follow them.

Countries with colonies may devolve some power to that colony. They may also reserve all power to the central government. Regardless, colonies are distinctly separate from the nation which has conquered them.

Hope this helps.

[Paignes]

I mean, they take as much power that you can't imagine.
Wait, did I say too much?
Most bigger empires tend to have some
"conquesting" overtime. I mean, the government
has more power than the smaller ones do. I haven't thought about the vice versa yet.

[Zen Secrets]

Can someone give me any hints about what kind of RPs I should be looking to join - creating one of my own sounds far too scary as a first step! - if I basically only have one character that has ventured outside the nation? Future tech soft scifi stuff, and the nation is kind of hidden (hence the nation name), so nothing on national level. I haven't yet managed to write up any factbooks or dispatches, so I have nothing to show yet. Basically just one person and their spaceship (technically the person is the mind driving the ship and they use a drone to interact with people, but I haven't yet decided exactly what the drone would look like, other than non-humanoid).

I have co-written stories before, for years, for publishing on an email mailing list, but this kind of publicly-seen RP is very different from that.

[Torsiedelle]

Can someone give me any hints about what kind of RPs I should be looking to join - creating one of my own sounds far too scary as a first step! - if I basically only have one character that has ventured outside the nation? Future tech soft scifi stuff, and the nation is kind of hidden (hence the nation name), so nothing on national level. I haven't yet managed to write up any factbooks or dispatches, so I have nothing to show yet. Basically just one person and their spaceship (technically the person is the mind driving the ship and they use a drone to interact with people, but I haven't yet decided exactly what the drone would look like, other than non-humanoid).

I have co-written stories before, for years, for publishing on an email mailing list, but this kind of publicly-seen RP is very different from that.

I'm no expert at all (I'm a P2TM poster), but what you're describing sounds like a character-centered RP, which I usually associate with P2TM. However, you're using it as canon for your nation? Because NS and II RP's can also be character-driven.

I'm personally in the same boat when it comes to starting RP's, though I also just have a long history of making a nation or worldbuilding with players who then flake or don't do any RP, so I just don't have motivation to write a factbook unless something really grips me. At any rate, I have a few different FT/Sci-Fi nation ideas, though I'm currently really into working on a Napoleonic/Victorian/Early 20th Century nation.

But yes, maybe a smaller character-centered RP would work, then?

[Zen Secrets]

However, you're using it as canon for your nation?

Yes, in my understanding from reading all the explanatory posts on all the forums, PTM is more for RPing in someone else's world, like Harry Potter or MLP or Star Wars or whatnot. The co-writing I mentioned was exactly such RP, though with original characters, and I don't want to do that anymore.

Because NS and II RP's can also be character-driven.

I admit that wars and other serious conflict RPs at II sound scary as well.

But yes, maybe a smaller character-centered RP would work, then?

Probably, yes. The character I have created has a kind of a quest or secret mission, but it's not something they would easily share with anyone, so at least to start with, I don't want to write up an RP of my own based on it.

[Torsiedelle]

However, you're using it as canon for your nation?

Yes, in my understanding from reading all the explanatory posts on all the forums, PTM is more for RPing in someone else's world, like Harry Potter or MLP or Star Wars or whatnot. The co-writing I mentioned was exactly such RP, though with original characters, and I don't want to do that anymore.

Because NS and II RP's can also be character-driven.

I admit that wars and other serious conflict RPs at II sound scary as well.

But yes, maybe a smaller character-centered RP would work, then?

Probably, yes. The character I have created has a kind of a quest or secret mission, but it's not something they would easily share with anyone, so at least to start with, I don't want to write up an RP of my own based on it.

I can see that.

Hmm...I'm not closed to any suggestions, but I'm also on a weird schedule right now. Still, I'm considering FT a bit, and I am personally more experienced with character-driven RP than I am factions.

...hmm...

On an unrelated note, I've been thinking of ways to flesh out a Victorian/Early 20th century Steampunk or Dieselpunk themed nation, or at least one with some hints of the two. I've decided to have the nation be in a current state of civil war between the monarchy and Republican rebels led by defected military officers. I want to sort of write a culture war into it, with the Royalists using opera and grand symphonies to make Pro-Government messages, and the Rebels using swing music and cabaret & radio bands to send a Pro-Freedom message, and maybe trying to recruit foreigners who want adventure to fight as a foreign legion.

[Welskerland]

I'm thinking about doing an RP centered around a murder mystery. I think it would start off as an international meeting or banquet RP, and then the leader or another important member in the host nation's government is murdered, and it must be solved before the murder gets away or kills more people, and there could be a potential risk for finger pointing and war.

I don't think it'd fit in P2TM, as this would use characters from our own IC nations. Anyone interested, or am I better off doing an ordinary mystery RP in P2M?

[Shwe Tu Colony]

I'd certainly be interested in that.

[Bowow Gracefully]

so how would i create a forum page of my own for a RP?

YES!

[Volkmacht]

I want to set up an RP where I play a border security guard in my nation and I am checking participants' paperwork and making sure criminals don't get into the country, etc. Where does this RP go? International Incidents or NationStates?

[The Pearlescent Sands]

How would you recommend I start a school-exchange type RP? I've been wanting to do one, and, seeing as how most of them are MT and don't accept aliens or robots, I don't have a whole lot to work with.

[Rhodevus]

How would you recommend I start a school-exchange type RP? I've been wanting to do one, and, seeing as how most of them are MT and don't accept aliens or robots, I don't have a whole lot to work with.

just because most of them are MT and place those limits doesn't mean yours needs to as well. There are plenty of school RPs and I recommend not trying to conform to the norm. Try something original. Do anything you want to for your school RP.

On a similar note, I saw a school RP where everyone played as a gods from mythology as if they became teenagers and all went to a school, so school exchange RPs can literally do anything you want them to.

That being said, to start a school exchange type RP, I highly recommend setting up a basic curriculum and a few areas that characters are permitted to go. Examples being a few classrooms, their dorms and 1-3 locations outside the school. This will keep everyone situated in pre-determined areas and allow for more character interaction. Set up a few teacher characters and such, but realize that a whole lot of the RP revolves around what happens before and after school rather than during.

[Adodema]

Wow, this is actually really helpful, thanks!

[Dayganistan]

I have plenty of experience RPing in P2TM but I always find it incredibly difficult to jump into the NS side of things. Just the amount of choice is so overwhelming and it seems like everyone has their own groups of people they know already. And I'm not really sure where a middle power MT nation truly fits in unless you're in an RP region, which sadly the one I'm in now is basically dead and was more focused on worldbuilding than RP.

[The Pearlescent Sands]

What do you do when you've realized that due to the incredibly rare situations that your nation can participate in, you basically can't RP.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

What do you do when you've realized that due to the incredibly rare situations that your nation can participate in, you basically can't RP.

I've noticed that all tech multiversal threads occasionally appear in the nationstates subforum, but in most cases I've also noticed that Global Economics & Trade frequently have more open threads. Also, as a fantasy tech nation myself I also barely have any roleplays to go into. Oh, & there's Portal to the Multiverse.

[The Pearlescent Sands]

What do you do when you've realized that due to the incredibly rare situations that your nation can participate in, you basically can't RP.

I've noticed that all tech multiversal threads occasionally appear in the nationstates subforum, but in most cases I've also noticed that Global Economics & Trade frequently have more open threads. Also, as a fantasy tech nation myself I also barely have any roleplays to go into. Oh, & there's Portal to the Multiverse.

The main issue is that the situation my nation is made for is extremely rare. That situation being an MT RP that will accept aliens.

(Granted we don't interfere with human politics at all, apart from some trade, and we only attack in self-defense.)

[Ruskland-Preuben]

If the rulership of a state is still under one family, but the people can elect the successor from the children of the previous leader, is it still an absolute monarchy or am I lost in NS Classification Limbo?

[Beeshta]

My population over the past 4 weeks has gone up to 92 million! I hope that it only gets higher from here.

[Rhodevus]

My population over the past 4 weeks has gone up to 92 million! I hope that it only gets higher from here.

your population goes up daily. It sort of represents how long you have been on nationstates for. Don't worry, it will always get higher.

[Oberreich]

If the rulership of a state is still under one family, but the people can elect the successor from the children of the previous leader, is it still an absolute monarchy or am I lost in NS Classification Limbo?

Absolute monarchy means the ruler has absolute power, that is it isn't limited by a constitution. Normally the historical definition is the old regime of France under the King. "le estat is moi" and all that. Technically, the French Kings power was limited though, mainly through the traditions and customs that made up the unwritten constitution. For example, the King couldn't raise taxes on his own.

What you describe is a elected monarchy. Most elected monarchies have at least the tradition of electing a King descended from a former king, You can have an elected monarchy that is absolute, but IRL it is unlikely, because elected kings usually promise to cede power in order to be elected.

[Heather knight]

i tell you a interesting story i was sleeping last night suddenly i woke up and i feel suffocation i saw my self in a mirror ..i see ill became a mutant i got three retractable claws and powerful regenerative ability