9/28/2023 Pro-Tip Thursday! Out of Character Spaces and Immersion!

Good Morning Survivor’s!!  Welcome to this week's Edition of Pro-tip Thursday!! 

Today’s Topic is another Housekeeping topic to make sure everyone is on the same page moving forward!    

Our game is designed to be a full immersion experience into the world Dystopia Rising.  Once the game has started and we are “in play” we should be striving to remain in character.  

This is harder than it sounds.  Roleplaying is hard and it takes mental endurance to keep in character all the time.  We get pulled out of character during the game because we need to do the paperwork of the game and we have to deal with the temperature, feeding ourselves and other self care needs like sleep.     

Today we are going to go over the areas in the game that are in character and out of character spaces. Plus I am going to add some tips to help make us sink into the immersion even more. 

Let's start on where the out of character spaces on our site are. There are two places that are completely Out of Character(OOC). Inside The Med Cabin and Inside the Lodge.   These spaces are the best places to rest out of character and cool down or warm up.  Once inside these structures you are out of the game 100%.   You can of course be in a group and continue to soft rollplay but there will be no mods or combat allowed in these spaces.   That being said, you cannot hide from the consequences of your actions in these spaces.   

There are a few other spaces that are considered to be in game but combat or mods will not be allowed.  The Kitchen in the Dining Hall and the Post Office.  

The Kitchen is the easiest place to explain why no mods or combat will happen.  Hot stoves and food prep does not lend itself to combat.  But it is important to note that it is indeed a character play space.  It's one of the easiest places to drop character while you are cooking or cleaning.  I know, I speak from experience.  So you want to be aware of others in the space.  People coming in for drinks or ice will still be in character.  Show the respect that you would want before interacting with them as yourself vs your character.   

The Post office is another space that is “In character” but will not have any mods or combat be allowed.  The post office is one of the hardest places to remain in character. While you are waiting in line it is easy to chat with friends about what you made and your plans for the game.  Also as one of the places that have some ac it's easy to sit and hang out talking to our friendly posties.  The important thing to remember is that conversations at the desk need to remain Out of Character. We can over hear things that we as players will know but we need to remember that our CHARACTERS do not know that information.  IF player A hears Player B buying a Glass Stiletto from the Criminal list they should keep that as OOC information because their Character should not know that Player B’s Character is a criminal. They definitely should not pass that information to other players.  

Now,  some of you are asking an important question, “Hey Curtis, What about my tent?  Isn’t that an Out of Character Space?  The answer would be a solid no.  Tents are in the game space.  Guides will ask you to come outside the tent for mods and fights but you are considered in character sleeping.  The one thing we have also declared is that character theft is not allowed from tents. This is an Arkansas interpretation of the rules about tenting at games. Only your personal Vehicle is considered Out of Character spaces.    

One of the things that we want to recommend to everyone to help with Immersion is to get Drinking vessels and plates that fit the Genre.  We have become very dependent on paper plates and plastic cups in the Bar.  I know I am guilty of this myself.  I may have my wood mug I drink out of but I hate doing dishes so plastic forks and plates have been my go to.  So I will try to lead by example using my mess kit and washing my fork and knife after eating!  

Creating the vibe at the game falls to us all to buy into it. Look at your kit and see what you can add to it to create more immersion for yourself and others! 

Till Next Time My friends!!! 

See you in the waste!!!