Barrow-Downs Birthday Party - Discussion Thread

[Mithadan]

The Barrow-Downs Birthday Party and Downie Awards is a great opportunity to blow off some steam and engage in some humor and silliness. Unlike (most) RPGs, at the Party you can let your hair down, relax and interact with your friends as well as talk with new people. You may wish to peek at the prior party threads (in Elvenhome) to see what a party here can be like.

Sub-plots are allowed so long as they do not exclude others or interfere with the flow of the party. But don't take off on a full-blown RPG within the party. That's a sure way to run afoul of the Admins and Mods, of which there will be plenty.

The Party will take place in two phases. First there will be the red carpet arrival of guests and the cocktail party. Then there will be the actual awards ceremony. Dancing is permitted (within reason, as with all things). Guests must check their weapons. There will be no duels or fighting allowed.

The awards are pre-planned and are all tongue in cheek (more or less). Party Guests will not be allowed to present their own impromptu awards. We are taking this approach to insure that no one gets slighted, insulted or offended.

However, we are in need of PRESENTERS for the awards. You can volunteer to be a presenter in this thread. You can adopt whatever persona you wish to present an award. You want to be Madonna, Albert Einstein or Charlton Heston as a presenter? That's fine. Gandalf would work too.

To present an award, you must prepare a presentation speech (humorous), announce the name of the award and the winner, and provide the winner's "theme music". For example, Alanis Morisette's "Ironic" might be appropriate for an award which is the polar opposite of the personality of the winner. The presenter should, without revealing the nature of the award, PM or e-mail the winner in advance and try to arrange for the award to be given when he or she is on-line and can give an acceptance speech. Acceptance speeches are not required.

PARTY RULES

For posting purposes, this party will be run using the rules of the Shire RPG forum as modified below. These are:

The Shire's Rules

The Shire has its own set of rules to follow. The purpose of these rules is to keep the peace, produce high quality stories, and help you get ready to play in Rohan. The rules are as follows (those not applicable have been deleted:

1.Check the game's discussion thread frequently. This is where you plan your next moves with other players and keep the game on track. Moderators and Innkeepers will pop in from time to time to give suggestions and comments to help you along the way. Also, remember to check your PMs (private messages).

2. Write in complete sentences and in paragraph form. Each post that you make should be at least two paragraphs in length with each paragraph made up of at least two sentences. Separate the paragraphs by double spacing between them. This makes your posts easier to read and more enjoyable for everyone. When a character speaks, his or her words should go between quotation marks.

3. Chat-style abbreviations are not allowed. For example, say "How are you today?" not "How r u 2day". Short chat-style posts which encourage other players to post in a chatty style are also not allowed. Be descriptive, and try not to use a lot of dialog.

4. Stay in character on the RPG thread. Use PMs or the discussion thread for out of character comments or discussions.

6. Swearing, sexual conduct, or obscenity of any kind are absolutely prohibited. There are no exceptions. Flaming and spamming are also forbidden.

7. Interact with the other players. Don't try to write the story yourself. An RPG is a communal effort with everyone participating. Use the discussion thread for planning. Also, don't "hijack" other player's characters. It is bad form to send another character off somewhere without the permission of the player.

8. Listen to the game founders, moderators, and Innkeepers. They are trying to help.

9. Follow the story line and read what the other players are posting. If your mission is to deliver a message from Bag End to Bree, you have no business wandering off to Lorien. Every RPG has a beginning, a middle and an end. Aimless wandering is not allowed. Achieve your goal, have fun doing it, and when you are done move on to the next game.

10. No Bunnying!

Bunny(noun)-1)actions that interfere unjustly with other characters. 2) anything that gives your character unfair advantages over other PCs and NPCs. 3) presenting someone else's character in such a way, whether by actions or words, that you change the basic nature of that character.

Examples of Bunnies
Ultimate weapons/spells. Killing off other players without permission . Killing non-player characters without a good reason. Invulnerability. Unduly large numbers of skills. Skills conflicting with your character.

Depicting someone else's character in a way they would not act. On those rare occasions that you speak for another character, be very careful to do it in a way that does not misrepresent them or do anything significant without the permission of the person who owns that character.

Simply put: Please play your character realistically and within the boundaries of Middle Earth "reality". Don't act in ways that give you unfair advantages over other players.

Players have the right to request that you modify your post when they feel that their character has been misrepresented or unfairly treated. Game founders and/or moderators will mediate any disagreements.

11. Be polite to your fellow players. Everyone makes mistakes. That is what the "Edit" button is for. There is no reason to get angry at someone else. Its just a game.

12. This is a Tolkien website, so your characters and stories must relate to Middle Earth. For example Jedi Knights and lasers are not permitted.

14. If a problem arises with another player, whether it is a personality conflict or a rules violation, contact the RPG Founder first. If the problem is not resolved, contact a moderator.

16.Edit out your signature for every post you do in any role playing game in the Shire, Rohan, or Gondor. In the screen for creating your posts, there is an option to 'Show Signature'. Please uncheck this box when posting in the RPG forums.

You can use your signature anywhere else, including the Green Dragon and the Game discussion threads.

HAVE FUN!