Rules of Roleplaying: A Guide for New Players

Introduction
Hi, and welcome to the World in Flames board! In this thread, I'll try make an introduction for the rules and everything you should know about. First of all, you should know that the gameplay is pretty simple and anyone can learn it easily!

Each RP might have special rules about war and diplomacy, and there are some popular RP types such as Army Group and Diplomatic War. However, regardless of their individual rules, all RPs are subject to some universal rules to keep the game fair and fun for everyone (for example, the 24 hours rule) that we follow, which I'll mention now.

I. Basic Rules

Armies
In a standard RP, each belligerent commands a certain number of troops, in other words, the number of troops is usually fixed. The military forces of the countries are stated in the rules section of all RPs. Some RPs allow further recruitment and military production. In any case, recruitment must be done within the limits of fairness and a healthy dose of realism.

Attack and defense
When you want to attack a target (city, enemy troops, etc.), you must state how many troops you will use for the attack, and tag the player who controls that target. Let's say you want to attack Paris with 30,000 soldiers and 400 tanks with the air support of 30 fighters and 30 bombers. An example would be like this: "I'm attacking Paris with 30,000 soldiers, 400 tanks, 30 fighters and 30 bombers."

The defender might counterattack, retreat, surrender and such.

Basic moves and distance
The army you use to attack a target must be stationed close to it. So, let's say you control France and you want to attack Brussels. You cannot attack Brussels with an army from Toulous, you must first send it to a closer area. Let's say Germany is attacking your border. To defend your attacked German border, you must first have an army close to that border. If you have already deployed an army near the German border, you can defend it directly.

The 24 hour rule
In all RPs, you can only use the same force to attack one target only once until the defending player responds to your attack or 24 hours passes since your attack. You can attack different targets with different forces before the opponent you are fighting against responds.
In other words, if your opponent does not respond within 24 hours to your move, you can continue your attack. Meanwhile, you can still attack different targets while waiting as long as you use another army.

Detailed troop movements and fortifications
During a battle, of course, you can make more detailed moves, just like in real-life battles. For example, you can start a siege, bombard a target (for example, the supply line of the enemy army) with bombers if they're available in the said RP, make a landing if you have a navy, make an artillery barrage if you have artillery, or retreat your army. Howewer, these moves have to follow common sense and a fair dose of realism. For example, an outnumbered and besieged army cannot suddenly escape from the siege as if nothing has happened, thus ignoring all the disadvantages it has.

You can build fortifications in RPs, unless there's a rule saying otherwise. There is often not a fixed fortification system, it is instead based on common sense and historical examples. As it is in the real life, fortifications take a very long time to build. It usually takes pages, but it depends on the fortification's quality and length. While a long and strong fortification (like the Maginot Line) takes more time, a short and simple fortification would naturally take less time. For example, you cannot build a fortification between Moscow and Stalingrad in a WW2-based RP in just 3 pages. Also, even the strongest fortification cannot be too OP, as it'd make attacking impossible. A fortitication is merely an advantage, and with necessary firepower (depending on how strong it is), it can be destroyed.

How are victories and casualties determined in a battle?
Unless the said RP uses a dice system or such, players determine the battle result on their own, considering common sense, logic and historical examples.

For example, an army that is heavily outnumbered can be easily defeated, unless it has another advantage to balance this, such as fortifications. So the numerically superior army can often defeat the small army without difficulties.

After a long siege, you can claim that the supplies and ammunition of the said army is running out, and after a time, if the opposing army is still not able to get out of the siege, you can claim they're no longer able to fight due to starvation.

Or, an army that is outnumbered, besieged, and whose supply lines have been cut off, cannot magically escape a siege in a minute.

Diplomacy
Diplomacy varies from RP to RP. Some RPs allows betrayals and forming new alliances, while some have fixed alliances from the start.

How does a RP end? How to win or lose?
Depends on what type of RP it is. For example, in a Diplomatic War, the alliance with the most points wins the game. But almost always, RPs don't have a victory condition. The game may end with a peace treaty between sides, or, if there has been no activity in the RP for a long time and the players are no longer able to participate, the game can be ended by players' consencus, and the sames goes for other similar situations.

Private Communication Between Players
We use a spoiler code for secret communication between countries in RPs. You want to make an alliance offer? Or prepare a plan with your allies? You can use the spoiler code for such things.

You first write to which player(s) the message is sent (like Only for @...), no one else can read your message except those people. Then enter the spoiler code and say whatever you want between the spoiler tags.

The code is: [1spoiler]type-here-what-you-want[/spoiler]

You should delete the "1" from the beginning of the first spoiler tag, I added it just to show the code.

Here is an example message:

Only for ... (tag the member(s) you want here)



Obviously, you're not allowed to read such a message if it's not sent to you.

General Behavioural Rules
Like in the rest of the world, you have to follow the Community Rules here too. Things like cussing, talking about recent political events and religion are not allowed. And no matter your relationship with the person you're talking with, don't forget they're a human too. Yes, sometimes things might get heated, but in the end of the day, we're all people.

Sometimes you win a battle, sometimes you lose. Because of the effort you've put in so far, you might be upset if you lose something, but you shouldn't blame others for it. Remember, losing is not the end of the world. The important thing is to have fun, and have a good time together while playing. Also, you can of course see losing as an experience and come back stronger and more experienced in the next game.

Well, there is no fixed definition of winning and losing anyway. Even if you lose the war, maybe you can manage to make a peace treaty that gives you what you've secretly always wanted from the beginning.

Role Play Executive Officers
Role Play Executive Officers (non-staff board leaders) are the leaders of this board. They moderate the RPs and make sure rules are followed, and help resolve the problems between the players, such as in determining a battle outcome. They can lock and reopen threads and polls when necessary.

There are two Role Play Executive Officer positions. Currently, one of them is me and the other one is Kliment Jefremovitš Vorošilov.

Election for a Role Play Executive Officer position is made in situations like the resignation of the RP Executive Officer of that position, or if a proposal to make an election for that position (for example, due to the long term inactivity of the said RP Executive Officer of that position) is made and accepted by the players.

What is the RP Enthusiasts group? How can I join it?
The RP Enthusiasts group is a group for dedicated RP players. You must have participated in a RP to be able to join this group. You can apply to join via Profile>Groups, and if you meet the criteria, you will be accepted to the group. New members are always welcome!

II. The Types of RPs

Things such as diplomacy and recruitment might be different for each RP type. Regardless of such specific rulee, in all RPs you have to follow the universal rules written in the previous sections of this post.

Here are some common types

Army Group: Most countries are divided into army groups which players control like a team. Usually, instead of the classic number style (like 100,000 soldiers), the division style (like 80 divisions) is used, although it's not mandatory.

Diplomatic War: The game creator regularly posts events (like the Berlin Blockade for a Cold War RP) and players (who are often divided to two main alliances) react to them. They try to find a solution to these events in their own interests using diplomacy. When the event is over, the alliances get points based on the result, depending whether they achieved theit goal and not, and if yes, how successfully. In some events, wars are allowed, and in the rest, it is only diplomacy.

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So, now you have the necessary knowledge to conquer the world, commander! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! We would be glad to help. Have a great time at the board!