Discord Conventions

Terranon: Elementals and Engines is based entirely in text via the discord server. Roleplay, dice, ooc chatter, all that occurs throughout that text based medium. As a result, there are a number of community conventions to make communication much easier to accomplish.

Voice Chat

Many times, tone and text can get misunderstood and miscommunicated. The first step of any conflict between people is to get on the voice channel and chat. This includes personal, out of character, misunderstandings as well as opportunities for positive metagaming and as general practice for game nights.
Positive metagaming is the idea of using “table talk” to outline a scene before the actual RP occurs as well as discussing character goals and motivations in a scene in order to come up with a scene resolution that is amenable to all involved parties.
As a general rule, we ask that people be on voice chat during game nights because it is more efficient to ask a question out of character on voice than through text.

IC / OOC Naming Conventions

Please use the /nick command in order to set your nickname on the server. If you’re on mobile, you can swipe left and manage your user to change your nickname. Please format this as your character’s name, followed by your own in parenthesis. For example:

Sir Victor Orsei von Tresard (Jake)

Rainbow (Josh)

OOC Chat in IC Channels

When needing to put OOC information in an IC channel, please use parenthesis for that communication. That being said, IC channels can go very quickly and so moving an OOC question or comment to an OOC channel is a better way to handle that if a response is needed.

Dialogue

Character dialogue, much like in a narrative, should be in quotation marks. You can always type out the narrative text around it, such as the following or any variety thereof:
“Dialogue,” he said quietly
Frowning, she shot back sharply “Dialogue!”

Action

Action in discord should be done via the /me command which italicizes the text on the screen. You can also italicize text by putting the text inside a set of underscore marks or using asterisks.

Combat

During a combat scene, please use the /nick command to change your nickname on the server to your initiative, character name, and armor class. For example:

[12] Sir Victor (AC 14)

[21] Rainbow (AC 12)

When doing an action in combat, please narrate out the “cool flavor text/special effects” and indicate the specific dice at the end. This might look like:

/me rolls forward after dodging the last blow, pausing for a moment to slam down a potion, before leading in for a knockout punch (Bonus action - drink a potion and heal 5 HP, 15 to hit NPC A for 5 bashing damage)

Good Gaming Etiquette

Remember that every member of staff is a volunteer and that it takes the work of every staff member, storyteller, and player in order to make this a safe, supportive, and above all, healthy community.
Remember to thank folks for their time when running a scene, either as a storyteller or fellow player. That single line can often leave people with a smile after a night of intense roleplay or work running a scene.
That being said, it is inevitable that something will go wrong either due to a miscommunication, a rules debate, etc. In the middle of game night is not the time to get into a rules argument unless the person running the game explicitly indicates they have the time and space to address it at that moment. Rules discussions should be done afterwards, and preferably directly with the storyteller involved. Generic rules discussions that are not relevant to the game or scene in question should live in the Rules Commentary channel.
When issues arise between people, please remember that anyone can ask for a conversation to be paused until a voice chat can occur. Remember to review the Discord Safety Tools.

Using the Help Ticket System

If there are issues that need to be brought to the storyteller staff’s attention, please be sure to use the help ticket feature. Feedback on the community, game, processes, or any issues in general should be submitted through that ticket system.
That being said, before sending feedback please remember to pass it through a few layers of thought first:

Is it actionable?

Is it relevant?

Is it constructive?

Staff is always open for feedback, but please remember that “nitpicking” and un-actionable criticism contributes to staff burnout far faster than running the actual community does.

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