Rules

From BRRP

Contents 1 Rules on General Conduct 2 RP Specific Rules 3 Voting 4 Regular Attempt 4.1 For the attacker 4.2 For the attacker 4.3 For the victim 4.4 For the voters 4.4.1 Things you should take into account 4.4.2 Things you should never vote based on, under no account: 4.5 Vote Calling 5 Fights to the Death (FTD) 6 Interception 7 Escaping 8 OC Character Creation 9 Things to bear in mind 10 Constructing your Bio

Rules on General Conduct

1. No offensive or abusive commenting. This is a strict no-no. You must not post any comments that are derogatory towards anyone based on gender, age, sexuality, race, disability etc. Breaching this rule will be taken very seriously and may end in a ban.

2. Don’t involve yourself in arguments. If someone is breaking the rules or if there is an argument going on, please contact a moderator (brmods @ gmail . com) rather than get involved because this almost always just fuels the argument, despite any good intention.

3. All sexually explicit posts must be put under an LJ-Cut – in all comms, and thanks to LiveJournal’s rather iffy policies on underaged sex in posts, it is advisable that all of these posts are locked so that only comm members can view them. The same applies to overly gory posts – although that is very much subjective, since the very nature of this roleplay requires some gore.

4. No flaming.

5. NO WrItINg LikE tHis BeCAusE It’S ReAllY AnNOyIng, unless in small amounts, as this is a good way to show a characters frame of mind. Don't even think about doing it all the time, because the mods will EAT YOU.

6. No excessive netspeak. Saying “lol” or “brb” is OK, because almost everyone will understand these, but it’s when you only speak using these things that it becomes really annoying. As well as this, I’m sure we all have the mental intellect to spell ‘someone’ without the need for numbers.

7. No plagiarism AT ALL. Don’t steal the rules without permission. If you get permission to use some of the rules here, then you must credit the mods and put a link to the community in your comm’s user info. Don't filch someone's post. This is another bannable offense.

8. When commenting to anyone’s writing, be sensitive. These people are real people and have real feelings. If you really dislike something so much that you can’t word your reply politely and constructively, then don’t post, OK? If you would like constructive criticism, make a note that you would and then don't bitch if someone didn't like it. It works both ways.

9. Keep on topic. Posts made to the main comm should be roleplay posts. You can make a short OOC note in them if you need to. However, anything more should be addressed to either the OOC or WTF communities. Comments don’t have to stay on topic, not that they ever would anyway! So feel free to talk about whatever you want in comments!

10. We don't care if you curse, just don't every other line. Find more creative ways to show frustration. This rule, of course, does not apply to the chats.

11. In all situations, the mods’ decision is final. People’s opinions will always be taken into account, but all final decisions are up to the mods. Please remember that.

RP Specific Rules

Remember that the end result of this roleplay is to establish a winner by process of elimination. This means that your character has a very, very good chance of being killed in this process – this is what you are signing up for by claiming. There is nothing personal about this, and it’s not fair on the winner of a vote if the loser makes a fuss.

Before anything else: it is very important that you have the br_ooc comm – the Out Of Character comm – friended on LJ. A lot of the information in these rules is subject to the specific circumstances of the version, the characters and the players’ own situations, and there will often be announcements detailing all of this. It is not necessary to friend the main comm or the br_wtf comm (the random comm for anything non-official you want to talk about), but definitely that one.

• There are two different types of comm ‘version’ – canon (characters and scenarios taken from the original Battle Royale canon) and Original Characters (OC). We alternate between each – the basic pattern is OC-manga-OC-novel-OC-movie repeated every six versions. Claiming a canon character is done on a first-come-first-served basis; claiming an OC is done by creating a character and simply claiming them – see the OC Character Creation section for details.
• Only one claim is allowed per person. You may either claim at the Claims Post put up in the main comm before the version begins, or speak to a mod (contact details are on the comm user info) about claiming any living NPC while the game is going on. You may claim an NPC that has already been played (and NPCed) by someone else.
• In canon, you may not claim the same character twice in a row. You may claim them once and then again two or more versions later, however. For obvious reasons, playing the same character twice at all in OC is forbidden.
• Remember that this is an interactive roleplay, not fanfiction. Plans do not work out and nothing is concrete. Please remember that your character and plot have no more priority than anyone else’s.
• When you are playing a canon version, remember to bear in mind which canon type is being played from – we alternate between movie, manga and novel each canon version. There are key differences in each, in both backstory (the movie and novel versions do not involve the game show element the manga has, for example) and in characterisation (in the manga and novel, for example, Fumiyo was one of the nice girls; in the movie, she was a bully.) that need to be taken into account depending on version. In the OC versions, a mixture of manga and novel is used, but the specifics change each version. The mods will inform you before the version begins of the particulars.
• Your posts should preferably have a subject containing your character’s name and the zone they are in, and a post title if you wish.
• Your character will be issued a weapon at the start of the game – you do not get to choose what this weapon is; it will be the same as in canon (with those characters whose weapon was not shown randomised each version) and, in the case of OC, all will receive random weapons, of which there are three categories – gag (random items such as rubber ducks and duct tape), melee (knives, hammers, etc.) and guns/explosives. Remember that the weapon you receive does not dictate if you can kill a character (if you can think of a realistic way in which to kill someone with a rubber duck, go ahead – and there are always bare-handed methods), but only how many PCs you may try to kill. See the Voting section for details.
• Once the version starts, there is no official limit to the number of weapons your character can carry – through finding them (dropped by a character, and some locations on the map may have items that can be used as weapons. See map information for details!) or through picking them up from a dead character. However, please bear in mind that your character doesn’t have super strength. It’s not very believable for a character to be carrying a dozen different large weapons on their person, is it?
• There are two types of characters: Played Characters (PCs) and Non-Played Characters (NPCs). NPCs may be used and interacted with by anyone, as long as what you do with them is in character for the NPC based on canon/their bio. You are allowed – encouraged! – to interact with other PCs, but you need permission from their player in order to write them doing anything more than minor things – if you are teaming up with another PC, it is a good idea to keep up a good dialogue with their player. If the player of a PC you are using complains about something their character does in your post, you have to change it.
• Try to put description and thought into your entries. A long list of events, especially if it lacks punctuation, isn’t going to be something people want to read – and remember that written quality is a very important aspect of this roleplay.
• Also keep in mind your character’s personality – both as shown in canon/their OC bio and from your previous entries. A character who differs wildly and randomly from both of these is very difficult to interact with, unrealistic and hard to follow.
• As a player, you will have superior knowledge of your character’s situation to your character themselves – of other characters’ weaponry, who is killing, who has died (before they have been read out by the reports), etc. Using this knowledge to your advantage simply ruins the RP for everybody else. On that note, bear in mind that this RP aims to be reasonable realistic – telepathy, super strength, dodging bullets, etc. are not allowed. Bear in mind that your character is a 15-17 year old student – not super human.
• Make sure to make your kills believable and varied – including the number of kills you make. It ruins the game for everybody else if one person goes around killing everybody, especially if every kill sounds the same. We don’t want to restrict anybody, but there is no room for someone who kills as many as Kiriyama did. The number of kills you can make is restricted in two ways:

1. The rules on killing another character are different depending on type of character you plan to kill. To kill a PC, you will need to win in a vote against them – see the section on voting for details on this. As for NPCs, you are free to kill them without any permission, although if the NPC is made vastly out of character in order to do it, the NPC may be ‘reset’ without ever having met your character.

2. Although you can interact with as many NPCs as you like, at the beginning of the version, you are allowed to kill only one, in order to make sure that they aren’t all killed by one person before others can even interact with them. This may be changed depending on the NPC:PC ratio in a given version. See the OOC comm for details!

• At a time interval set by the mods, there will be a post in the com with the report made by Sensei – this will contain who has been killed, the danger zones (your character will hear these over the island’s tannoy system) and who has been NPCed. In game time, these take place once every six hours and there will eventually be twelve reports – as in canon.
• There is a time limit to the game. After twelve reports – three in game days – there will be a collar explosion, killing all survivors unless a winner has been found. The mods may decide to give extensions, but this is subject to the mods’ own judgement. Do not simply assume you will get an extension because time is running short – a collar explosion has happened before. Your character will be made aware of the time limit and of the reports at the start of the game.
• The danger zones will be marked on the updated map also included with each report – your character should be out of these by the next report. However, if you make a mistake and accidentally send your character into a danger zone, you won’t be automatically killed – just make sure to change your post as soon as you can.
• These reports may also signify inactivity sweeps, although the mods will let you know through the OOC comm. This basically means that if you haven’t posted since the last report, your character will be NPCed and you will no longer be able to play them. However, if you have a Valid Excuse (VE) for why you haven’t posted, you may make a post in the OOC comm explaining your VE (you may contact a mod first if you aren’t sure if the VE is valid), and you will not be NPCed. Bear in mind, however, that having a VE does not make you exempt from being killed in a vote.
• LiveJournal has a tag function, giving each post a category – and a page where you can view every post in that category. Therefore, to make looking for specific posts easier, the following tags exist in the comm.:

Reports
Votes
Claims Posts
Character Posts (these are tagged in the format of v[number] [full name] – for example, v4 hiroshi kuronaga/v6 masayuki fujimura)

The mods will create the new tags at the start of each version – even before this has been finished you may start tagging your own posts with your own character’s specific tag (and only their own tag – don’t tag your post with another character’s tag just because that character was in your post – it makes things consistent).

• You may have your character commit suicide or have them killed without use of a vote. Once you’ve decided you want to do this, simply write it. Remember, though, that once you’ve killed your character, you can’t unkill them. This is completely final, so make sure you’re certain!
• You may alternatively decide to NPC your character. You may simply stop posting and let them be NPCed at the next inactivity sweep, but it’s more polite to inform people by posting to the OOC comm letting everyone know. Also, if you change your mind later, you will be allowed to reclaim them as long as they haven’t been killed, but only if you posted to the OOC comm – characters NPCed by inactivity sweep cannot be reclaimed by their original player.

Also note: If you write your first post before the sensei's classroom post goes up, please leave out the classroom scene. Whichever moderator is playing the teacher will write the classroom scene, and if you write yours beforehand, then your post will probably not make sense.

Example: Doing It Wrong

Voting

Initiating a vote is the only way to kill a PC character in most cases (unless the player gives their permission for the character to die) – there are three types of votes that can be initiated, and you’ll need to know the rules on them to vote, even if you don’t plan to initiate them all.

Regular Attempt

The first of these is the regular attempt. This is one character attacking another. This does not need the permission of the victim to be initiated, although speaking to the victim (if only for the correct PC control) beforehand is always polite.

For the attacker

There is a limit to the number of people you may attempt on, depending on which weapon you have:

• You are allowed to attempt on only one person by hand to hand combat, or when using certain weapons. ‘Gag’ weapons (toys, live animals, etc.) may only be used to attempt on one person, ditto weapons such as a single shot gun that would take a long while to reload, or a javelin.

• You are allowed to attempt on a maximum of two people with most other weapons – most guns, all melee weapons.

• You are only allowed to attempt on a maximum of three people if you have a rapid firing gun (sub-/machine gun), poison (under the right circumstances) or something explosive – grenades, or causing an explosion in some other way.

• You can never attempt on 4 or more people at once.

Note that this does not apply to NPCs. You may also kill an NPC in addition to attempting on three PCs. (Or more than one, depending on version circumstance)

If you want to attempt on someone, and you aren't sure which category your weapon falls into, ask a mod and we'll be happy to tell you.

Note that when multiple characters make an attempt, you are not limited to three for both – the characters are counted as individuals, not one entity, therefore you may attempt on a maximum of three characters each if you have the right weapon. For the people voting, remember also that these are individuals. If two characters attempt on one, the attackers’ quality does not have an accumulative effect. It must be taken as two separate attempts by two individuals.

For the attacker

1. When initiating, you should end the post with you about to attempt, i.e. the last sentence should be something like: "Atsuko spun around and looked the boy right in the eyes before pulling the trigger..." it must be ambiguous, like a cliffhanger. After this, please leave an OOC note saying “Vote time” and what the time is (in GMT for uniformity’s sake – or at least including the time difference from GMT). 2. The vote will then commence – all votes last for twenty-four hours, during which players (you must have claimed to be able to vote – you may still vote if you have NPCed for whatever reason or if your character is dead, however) vote on whether or not they think the attempt should succeed. See below for voting criteria – it is important to know what aspects you are and aren’t allowed to vote on. The attacker is not allowed to post during this time nor vote in the attempt. 3. You are not allowed to pull out of the attempt and act as though it never happened without the permission of everyone else involved – this is so that if you’re losing the vote, the victims may still retaliate if they like. 4. At the end of this time, a mod will close the vote with the final tally and results – more about that below. If the victim has been killed, the attacker may go on as normal – they should include something in their next post about whether they take the victim’s weapons or not for updating the user info. If the victim is left alive, the attacker is not allowed to post for another twenty-four hours, or until the victim (or one of the victims) posts again. This is to give the victim the chance to retaliate or run away.

For the victim

1. Remember that you do not need to consent to this – the attacker is not breaking any rules even if they mislead you on this matter. It may be rude, but it’s not against the rules. 2. You may post while the vote is going on with the details of everything that has happened up to the attempt. However, there is no getting out of it – you may not write about your character dodging an attempt on them; this is slightly unfair, but that’s Battle Royale! You are also not allowed to vote in the attempt. 3. If you are wounded or killed in the attempt, this must take place in your next post. The wound must somehow impair the character’s functions somehow – minor bruising and a paper cut are not sufficient. Apart from that, it’s entirely up to you how the character is wounded. If your character is killed, you may make one death post. Your character is not allowed to initiate a vote of any kind in this post.

Also:

1. You may forfeit at any time. If the attacker forfeits, all votes are automatically FAIL. If the victim forfeits, all votes are automatically KILL. Where there are multiple victims, one forfeiting doesn’t affect the rest.

2. Bystanders are allowed to vote and post, but not interact with characters involved in the vote while the vote is going on.

For the voters

When casting your vote, leave a new comment to the vote post (do not reply to another comment with it) – also make your vote the subject of the comment. Your options are:

• KILL – if you think the attacker is better by the standards mentioned below.
• FAIL – if you think the victim is better.
• WOUND – if you think they’re too close to equal to pick an outright winner. You don’t get to choose the severity of the wound.

Things you should take into account

• Writing skill – quality of writing, description, ease of reading, etc.
• Characterisation – how well the player has stayed true to the character as they were in canon/their OC bio/their own previous posts.
• PC Control – how good has the player’s use of other people’s characters been?
• Whether or not a character is wounded should only be taken into account if the character already has three wounds inflicted – in this case, the attempt may either be a kill or a fail. A character may not be wounded four times.

Note that self-inflicted wounds (the author wounded their character, without a vote making them do so) also contribute toward this total of three, but only if the wound is major enough to prevent function. A minor cut or bruise does not count.

Things you should never vote based on, under no account:

(If you vote based on these, you will be required to revote)

• Logistics. Which weapon each character has, where the characters are standing, etc. This not a roleplay based on the logistics; it is based solely on writing skill. However, if you feel the player has written the situation badly, that may count.
• Reasons of bias – your relationship with one of the players involved, your character’s relationship with a character involved or simply revenge for whatever reason.
• If you feel like there should be more kills – i.e. ‘it’s endgame and more people need to die if we’re going to finish on time’ is not a valid voting reason.
• Tactical voting – e.g. ‘my character has a better chance of beating X than Y in an FTD, so I’ll vote for X’.
• Because you flipped a coin, etc.
• Based on what other people have voted.
• Player activity – one player having posted more than the other is not grounds for voting against the other.<

Note that you may only vote if you have sufficient knowledge of both characters. Reading and memorising the contents of every post is not necessary, but having read most of the posts by each and having enough knowledge of the characters to justify your vote without resorting to the above is essential to be able to cast a vote.

Vote Calling

When the vote ends, twenty four hours after it begins, the mods will tally the votes. First the number of KILL votes will be counted. Then the FAIL and WOUND votes will be tallied up together as one total. If the number of KILL votes beats them out, the victim is dead. If FAIL and WOUND votes override the KILL vote, then they will be counted against each other and whichever has more will win out.

Here is an example. KILL- 4 WOUND- 3 FAIL- 2

The character survives, but since there are more WOUND votes than FAIL votes, they survive with a wound.

In case of a tie (in either case), the result is WOUND.

Fights to the Death (FTD)

The second type of vote that can be initiated is the Fight to the Death (FTD). This is different from a regular attempt in that one character must die.

• Unlike in a regular vote, both players must consent to this.
• Both characters should post up to the point of the fight to the death – the first posting with an OOC note, the second posting the vote; it should be made clear that this is an FTD. In some cases – for example, if the final deadline is approaching – it is acceptable for only one character to post with the vote and the other to catch up afterwards.
• The voting rules are exactly the same as the above, only instead of KILL, WOUND or FAIL, you should vote for which character you want to win and your reasons. There is no middle ground for these votes! The rules on voting are the same as for a normal vote.
• As in normal voting, a mod will comment twenty-four hours later with the results. If the result is a draw, the last vote to have been cast will be discarded. Unfair, yes, but unfortunately, that’s Battle Royale! There is no such thing as a WOUND result in an FTD – one character has to die.
• It is up to the winner to post afterward with what happens in the fight, including the kill and what happens afterward. The loser may make a death post as normal.

Interception

The final type of vote is the interception. This is where, during an attempt that is already going on, another character who is nearby jumps in front of the attack, be it a knife, bullet or hand to hand combat. Intercepting an FTD is not allowed – you may only intercept an attempt.

• Your character must be near to the site of the attempt to be able to intercept it – if you are not actually there, you may write your character running toward the area to arrive in time to intercept at the end of your post. Bear in mind that your character must be able to sneak up to be able to attempt – keep this convincing! It may affect the voting results. Also, the vote you are intercepting must be in progress – you may not intercept a vote that is already finished.
• At this point, the current vote will end with no result – and a new vote will start in your entry; the attempt is now the attacker versus your character with the voting system exactly the same as normal. The attacker has no choice on this matter.
• Bear in mind that this is an entirely normal vote. The interceptor will be at risk of being killed by this vote, although it may pay off – this is exactly what you are agreeing to by intercepting, so make sure you’re certain!
• As an extra rule, you may not intercept another interception vote – otherwise it could go on forever…
• Also be aware that some attacks are just too fast to be jumped in front of or jumping in front of them physically wouldn’t work. Machine gun and sniper rifle attacks cannot be intercepted.

Escaping

Rules on escaping the game can be found here, on br_ooc. Also bear in mind this may not be attempted before Report 9.

OC Character Creation

As the OC versions are not exactly based on canon, the details are not always exactly the same – the mods will inform you of certain interchangeable details such as the school and the information about it, including location in Japan, the island map (which changes every OC version) and the weapon your character will receive.

Things to bear in mind

1. Your character is a high school student aged between fifteen and seventeen (eighteen with specific mod permission). Remember that they will not be super human in any way. Kiriyama was not a representation of a normal human being, he was a plot device – and playing with a Mary Sue just isn’t fun for anyone else. That’s not to say your character can’t be good at anything, but keep them from being the very best at everything.
2. Also keep in mind that this game is set in Japan during the late 90s/early 00s, depending on how the mood strikes. Mods will let you know a basic timeframe before the game. This means you need to keep cultural references accurate. It won't kill us if you don't, but definitely keep that in mind.
3. The OC versions are loosely based on a mixture between novel and manga. This means that the backdrop for the game is in the isolationist dictatorship, the Greater East Asian Republic. Keep in mind certain aspects of this. To that end, see the rules on foreign character creation. Also note that the manga’s gameshow variant is sometimes present, sometimes not (mods will let you know).
4. We would prefer that you create a separate journal for your character, but if this is not possible, please at least have a separate entry for character information so that it can be directly linked to. You should also have a user icon of a person who represents the character’s image – their PB (Played By). This can be an Asian actor/actress or someone you randomly found on MySpace, but make sure they at least look the right age for the part. There is a list of example sites you can go through to find a good PB below.
5. You may create one NPC along with your own character. Bear in mind that this is not your NPC; once the version starts, you have no more right to the use of it than anyone else, so it is not advisable to make any big plans involving one.
6. Also remember that canon and OC are completely separate – without specific mod permission, you may not create an OC character with any connection to an existing canon character. You may, however, connect your OC to another OC from a previous round – just make sure to get permission from the player of the previous OC if it wasn’t you.

Constructing your Bio

When it comes to making your bio, please put the following information in a journal entry using third person. (In other words, no "I am short and have dyed blonde hair." We want "Atsuko is a short girl, with long dyed blonde hair" or something to that effect.)

This is the basic layout we would like the OC bios to take, although if you’d like to add a new category to your OC’s bio, go ahead and do so:

Name: (Should preferably be an actual Japanese name – apart from the otherwise east-Asian exceptions; there are plenty of sites on the internet detailing Japanese names of both genders.)

Age: (Must be 15-17, 18 allowed with mod permission)

Birthday: (Only month and day required)

Grade Average:

History: (Should be quite detailed and a good, lengthy paragraph describing the student’s past from birth, childhood, family life, teen years and exterior events that could be significant in their life. Sure, of course you can be creative here but please don’t cram it full of dramatic sob-story moments to make your character completely messed up. Feel free to make their life not so perfect, because nobody’s is, and if they’ve had a rough time, go ahead, add it in. Just make sure you don’t go a little over the top! And also, forty renditions of Kiriyama, Mitsuko or Nanahara aren’t fun to read!)

Appearance: (Eye colour, facial shape, hair colour, hairstyle, height, weight, clothing and posture are all main factors to include. Please make this another detailed paragraph also, and please don’t just make a list i.e: “Blue eyes, green hair, average height” etc etc as that is a complete bore! Be creative but be realistic. And remember that these are high school students.)

Personality INCLUDING three strengths and weaknesses: (Your personality should be faintly moulded on the character’s history, but we don’t mean literally, just have a slight inclination of their personality from their history. Having a good upbringing, strict but caring parents and a nice home isn’t going to make your character seriously messed up, got me? I’m sure you have! Same with appearance, don’t just make one big list. Every character has personality flaws – something about themselves that other characters might not like, to put it simply. For example, a phobia does not count as a character flaw. Being bossy and overbearing does.)

Overnight Bag: (What they have in the bag they brought with them on the trip. Bear in mind that it’s one bag that your character must be able to carry and that any weapons kept in the bag – or anything that could be used as a weapon – will no doubt be removed by soldiers.)

Family (Members of the character’s family who are important to their history/personality. Mother, father, siblings, etc.)

Extra-Curricular Activities: (Every Japanese schoolchild is heavily encouraged to join an after school club – a sports club, for example. Your character doesn’t need to be a member of one, but most kids will be.)

Classroom Behaviour:

Classroom Clique:

Any Memorable Moments:

Friends and Enemies: (Relationships with members of the class. You don’t need to ask NPC creators for permission to make relations with the NPC, but you will need to consult players for PC relations.)

Picture: (Give the PB: (actor/actress/model/randompersonoffmyspace) if possible)

Sites that can be used to find suitable PBs for your character include:

www.jdorama.com
wiki.d-addicts.com
wiki.theppn.org
(searching MySpace, if you have no moral objection to using a ‘normal’ person)
gallery.asianfanatics.net
netsquare.com/photo/japan.htm

Once you’ve found a name, you can simply Google them.

Alternatively, you can use a PB from a previous version – there is no rule against doing so; there is also no rule against two people using the same PB in the same round.