Post by Sir Not Appearing on Forum on Jan 13, 2009 20:11:45 GMT -5
Before we get too into this, lets take a look at a quick FAQ.
..............................................................................................
GSOP FAQs
Q:What is GSOP?
A: GSOP is another way to play and enjoy Gaia Saga, the Universal role playing system. GSOP simply stands for "Gaia Saga Online Play" and is currently played through internet chat rooms on instant messengers such as Yahoo! and AIM.
Q: Whats required to play GSOP?
A: All you need is the required messenger installed on your computer depending on which one the hosting GM wishes you to use, and of course access to a forum to keep track of your character information.
Q: Do I need any dice for this?
A: No you do not, rolling for actions and activities are all up to the GM to perform, this way game play is fair and there will be no cheating.
Q: Which dice system does GSOP use?
A: It uses its very own system, the rules are listed below. Its easier then the others provided in the Gaia Saga Manual, which makes sense considering this is for online play only and is played in a fast paced environment.
Q: Why post this now?
A: There are a lot of players of Gaia Saga that might not be able to play as often as they would like. It is because of this that these rules were designed so that you could play no matter how far away from the GM you were at the time. I am posting this now because a lot of players have recently been very interested in playing GSOP and have requested its use.
................................................................................................
Ok, so now that the FAQ is out of the way we can start with the actual rules and explanation for GSOP and how you can get started playing around with it. First of all, you need to pretty much know what Gaia Saga is, the general idea behind it, and have an overall knowledge of how everything in that game universe operates. If you do not know simple things like what the races are, what spells are, what special abilities and skills are, then you wont have any idea what you are doing and should probably not attempt this. While this knowledge is not 100% necessary, you'll find that if you already have an idea that it will cure a lot of headaches before they start.
I used GSOP a long time ago in order to help a campaign with its biggest issue: characterization and drama. I found that a lot of players will write out their feelings more often then speaking them, and will take writing more seriously then if they were at a table rolling dice. This idea worked so well that that particular campaign is still regarded as being the best played to this date, and has even inspired me to write novel work on them (Chronicles of the Black Hand). While the actual game sessions were great and fun over all, the GSOP sessions proved to lend a lot of story to the game itself, and made the game truly epic.
This is probably where I should go ahead and say that yes, there is a lot of drama and story using this system and that yes, combat does take a backseat to it. This does not take away from the enjoyment of the game, as those that have used GSOP will be able to tell you. There are some players who prefer this method over conventional.
Without further adieu, here are the official GSOP rules for those of you interested to read over and learn. Its a VERY easy system, thats why I'm just posting it here and not writing a separate book for it (which I might do anyway in the future for fun).
..............................................................................................
GSOP RULES
V 2.0
..............................................................................................
Materials: Instant Messenger (choice of GM), capable internet connection to run messenger, Time to spend online, registration of forum to keep order of character information.
Getting Started
1.) Register on the forum supporting GSOP, or at least the game being hosted.
2.) Download the messenger mentioned and make an account for its use, preferably using a screen name you can easily be identified as. I personally prefer personal names for players such as Mike, Casey, Kyle, Drew, Jason, Brandon, Troy, etc. But you can use your character name too if you want.
3.) Sign onto the forum you joined and go into the designated GSOP game board where it mentions "characters". Copy and paste the character sheet present and fill it out to the best of your knowledge. This sheet is usually just a cheap representation of a official Gaia Saga NPC sheet. If you have a game manual then you can easily fill this out, if not, you will need that info to make a character (Thats why I said if you dont know Gaia Saga then you better stop).
4.) Wait for the GM to look over the sheet and approve it for you.
5.) Follow the posts in the "Game Sessions" thread and wait for the time the GM will be on to play so that you can log onto the messenger and enter the chat room for a night of wonderful gaming fun.
GSOP Chat Rules
There are only really a few rules to follow in GSOP, and they are simple at best. There are golden rules and there are typing rules. Lets start with the golden rules.
1.) Follow GM instructions at all times.
2.) Stay in character when playing.
3.) Perform actions that your character can do
4.) Respect everyone in the game room
If you don't follow these rules the GM can choose to boot you and keep you out of the room.
Now for the typing rules, these are pretty easy to. This just keeps track of special things to make sure the game runs smoothly since its fast paced. Im going to simply place the special characters and what have you next to your explanation, ask questions if you dont understand.
(()) = When a comment is made out of character then you must place them between parentheses like these so that the GM and other players know to disregard it for play. Anything typed and entered without these will be considered part of the game, even if it was meant as just a joke.
() = Single parentheses are reserved for special questions to the GM from players, or as special roll announcements or other information given to the players by the GM.
FONT COLOR = Before game play can commence, each player must choose a font color to represent them. The color must be easy to read and must be different then everyone else currently playing. This makes reading quicker and will make spacing between characters easy as well. The GM is always black in color.
Character Name = when a GM posts something for a player they must put the character it refers to in front of the post within single parentheses so that the players know who it is aimed at. Multiple character may be listed in this, depending on how many are around at the time of the event. If something applied to all characters then nothing is needed before the post.
"..." = Quotes are of course used for dialogue between characters, and if anyone is speaking then they need to post their speech between these, otherwise it might be counted as a characters thought processes.
Dice System
The dice system is the easiest part of this game. It reflects loosely on character stats and largely on chance to decide the outcome. The GM holds with him or her at their computer desk two six sided dice, preferably of different colors. These dice can be rolled in a conjuncture of different ways, much like the Gaia Saga success system in order to decide outcomes of desired actions.
Actions are performed with rolls when needed by the GM rolling one of the D6 and looking over the character sheet of the character in order to see if the action is easy to perform or not. If easy, the character can usually make the action on a roll of 4,5,6. If the action is difficult, based on situation, skills the character has, and stats, then there will be a difficulty adjustment. The worst chance a character has to succeed is to just roll a 6 on the D6.
Combat occurs in much the same way. Stronger characters with more combat skills obviously have the upper hand because they will have more adjustments then a character that does not. The same rolling applied for combat, except that both parties are rolled at once, which is why two different colored dice are needed.
Most actions in GSOP are considered free, such as entering doors, talking to people, etc. There are a lot less needed rolls in GSOP then in normal Gaia Saga and rolls are only made when absolutely needed. This gives players more freedom to do what they want, and also gives the GM the opputunity to decide what happens to them more often.
Thats basically it for the rules. Its simple and easy to follow and understand. Any questions? ;D
..............................................................................................
GSOP FAQs
Q:What is GSOP?
A: GSOP is another way to play and enjoy Gaia Saga, the Universal role playing system. GSOP simply stands for "Gaia Saga Online Play" and is currently played through internet chat rooms on instant messengers such as Yahoo! and AIM.
Q: Whats required to play GSOP?
A: All you need is the required messenger installed on your computer depending on which one the hosting GM wishes you to use, and of course access to a forum to keep track of your character information.
Q: Do I need any dice for this?
A: No you do not, rolling for actions and activities are all up to the GM to perform, this way game play is fair and there will be no cheating.
Q: Which dice system does GSOP use?
A: It uses its very own system, the rules are listed below. Its easier then the others provided in the Gaia Saga Manual, which makes sense considering this is for online play only and is played in a fast paced environment.
Q: Why post this now?
A: There are a lot of players of Gaia Saga that might not be able to play as often as they would like. It is because of this that these rules were designed so that you could play no matter how far away from the GM you were at the time. I am posting this now because a lot of players have recently been very interested in playing GSOP and have requested its use.
................................................................................................
Ok, so now that the FAQ is out of the way we can start with the actual rules and explanation for GSOP and how you can get started playing around with it. First of all, you need to pretty much know what Gaia Saga is, the general idea behind it, and have an overall knowledge of how everything in that game universe operates. If you do not know simple things like what the races are, what spells are, what special abilities and skills are, then you wont have any idea what you are doing and should probably not attempt this. While this knowledge is not 100% necessary, you'll find that if you already have an idea that it will cure a lot of headaches before they start.
I used GSOP a long time ago in order to help a campaign with its biggest issue: characterization and drama. I found that a lot of players will write out their feelings more often then speaking them, and will take writing more seriously then if they were at a table rolling dice. This idea worked so well that that particular campaign is still regarded as being the best played to this date, and has even inspired me to write novel work on them (Chronicles of the Black Hand). While the actual game sessions were great and fun over all, the GSOP sessions proved to lend a lot of story to the game itself, and made the game truly epic.
This is probably where I should go ahead and say that yes, there is a lot of drama and story using this system and that yes, combat does take a backseat to it. This does not take away from the enjoyment of the game, as those that have used GSOP will be able to tell you. There are some players who prefer this method over conventional.
Without further adieu, here are the official GSOP rules for those of you interested to read over and learn. Its a VERY easy system, thats why I'm just posting it here and not writing a separate book for it (which I might do anyway in the future for fun).
..............................................................................................
GSOP RULES
V 2.0
..............................................................................................
Materials: Instant Messenger (choice of GM), capable internet connection to run messenger, Time to spend online, registration of forum to keep order of character information.
Getting Started
1.) Register on the forum supporting GSOP, or at least the game being hosted.
2.) Download the messenger mentioned and make an account for its use, preferably using a screen name you can easily be identified as. I personally prefer personal names for players such as Mike, Casey, Kyle, Drew, Jason, Brandon, Troy, etc. But you can use your character name too if you want.
3.) Sign onto the forum you joined and go into the designated GSOP game board where it mentions "characters". Copy and paste the character sheet present and fill it out to the best of your knowledge. This sheet is usually just a cheap representation of a official Gaia Saga NPC sheet. If you have a game manual then you can easily fill this out, if not, you will need that info to make a character (Thats why I said if you dont know Gaia Saga then you better stop).
4.) Wait for the GM to look over the sheet and approve it for you.
5.) Follow the posts in the "Game Sessions" thread and wait for the time the GM will be on to play so that you can log onto the messenger and enter the chat room for a night of wonderful gaming fun.
GSOP Chat Rules
There are only really a few rules to follow in GSOP, and they are simple at best. There are golden rules and there are typing rules. Lets start with the golden rules.
1.) Follow GM instructions at all times.
2.) Stay in character when playing.
3.) Perform actions that your character can do
4.) Respect everyone in the game room
If you don't follow these rules the GM can choose to boot you and keep you out of the room.
Now for the typing rules, these are pretty easy to. This just keeps track of special things to make sure the game runs smoothly since its fast paced. Im going to simply place the special characters and what have you next to your explanation, ask questions if you dont understand.
(()) = When a comment is made out of character then you must place them between parentheses like these so that the GM and other players know to disregard it for play. Anything typed and entered without these will be considered part of the game, even if it was meant as just a joke.
() = Single parentheses are reserved for special questions to the GM from players, or as special roll announcements or other information given to the players by the GM.
FONT COLOR = Before game play can commence, each player must choose a font color to represent them. The color must be easy to read and must be different then everyone else currently playing. This makes reading quicker and will make spacing between characters easy as well. The GM is always black in color.
Character Name = when a GM posts something for a player they must put the character it refers to in front of the post within single parentheses so that the players know who it is aimed at. Multiple character may be listed in this, depending on how many are around at the time of the event. If something applied to all characters then nothing is needed before the post.
"..." = Quotes are of course used for dialogue between characters, and if anyone is speaking then they need to post their speech between these, otherwise it might be counted as a characters thought processes.
Dice System
The dice system is the easiest part of this game. It reflects loosely on character stats and largely on chance to decide the outcome. The GM holds with him or her at their computer desk two six sided dice, preferably of different colors. These dice can be rolled in a conjuncture of different ways, much like the Gaia Saga success system in order to decide outcomes of desired actions.
Actions are performed with rolls when needed by the GM rolling one of the D6 and looking over the character sheet of the character in order to see if the action is easy to perform or not. If easy, the character can usually make the action on a roll of 4,5,6. If the action is difficult, based on situation, skills the character has, and stats, then there will be a difficulty adjustment. The worst chance a character has to succeed is to just roll a 6 on the D6.
Combat occurs in much the same way. Stronger characters with more combat skills obviously have the upper hand because they will have more adjustments then a character that does not. The same rolling applied for combat, except that both parties are rolled at once, which is why two different colored dice are needed.
Most actions in GSOP are considered free, such as entering doors, talking to people, etc. There are a lot less needed rolls in GSOP then in normal Gaia Saga and rolls are only made when absolutely needed. This gives players more freedom to do what they want, and also gives the GM the opputunity to decide what happens to them more often.
Thats basically it for the rules. Its simple and easy to follow and understand. Any questions? ;D