1.What the hell is this?
This is Ook!, a messenge board dedicated to Terry Pratchett, a British fantasy author. You can learn all about him and his books here:
Here at Ook! there are two sets of activity. Most people do both. There's the Out Of Character forums- this one, the other guild forums, and the general/offtopic/roleplay discussion forum. In those forums, people talk about whatever appeals to them, within the constraints of the forum, which is described in the blurb under the title on the main page.
The other part is Role Play. This happens on all the other boards. The RP takes place on the Discworld, the fantasy world Terry Pratchett has created.
2. I don't want to roleplay, can I still hang out on the General Discussion board?
Sure!
3. What's a guild?
Guilds are basically your character's job. Guild members tend to work with each other a lot, but guild cooperation happens too.
4. Do I have to be in a guild?
Nope, but it may be hard to work yourself into storylines if you aren't.
5. So how do I roleplay?
It's pretty easy. Always post in third person and in the past tense.
Like this: Carrot ate an apple.
Not: Carrot eats an apple.
Or: I eat an apple.
Just continue the story. If something doesn't fit previous continuity, don't worry! It happens all the time. We'll work it out.
Be sure, when writing about others, not to make them act in a way their character wouldn't. Some people don't like you to write about their character at all, and would rather you let them supply their side. If they ask you to do so, do it.
6. Can I be Angua? (or Detritus, or Granny, or Rincewind.)
No. It isn't fair to others to play the favorite characters from the books. You need to make up your own character. If you want to be a character who is basically a ripoff of the existing characters, we can't stop you, but it's really more fun to make up your own idea.
7. Can I make my character an troll with a permanent freezing spell on its brain that used to be an assassin but quit to become a wizard and then quit to join the Watch?
Sure if you want, but a flawed character is often more fun to play than Superman. We won't let your supercharacter get in the way of fun and good RP, so don't be surprised if he gets incapacitated from time to time to let others have a chance to shine.
8. Where's Vimes?
The current Watch Commander is Wee Mad Alli, not Vimes. We have our own Patrician, our own Guild Heads, and so on. Most of the book characters are never even mentioned. The Librarian and Dibbler do pop up, however, they are Non Player Characters.
9. How do I join?
You need to post a profile on the Watch OOC Board or send Alli a profile at the Watch homepage:
http://webspace.webring.com/people/nw/weemadalli
At this point you will be a recruit. You can also post a profile of the real you so we know a little about you and can contact you if necessary, but this isn't required.
After you write two reports (details on the website) or two RP posts, you will be promoted to Lance-Constable. Further promotion is based on participation in site activities and RP quality, not in-story events, and is at the Commander's discretion.
10. Stripping Monks? Flying ships? Evil metal? What the hell is going on???
Don't worry if you don't understand what's going on in the story. Your character probably wouldn't either. If you ask IC or OOC, someone will explain. Also, there are Roleplay summaries on the Watch site, as well as profiles for all the Watchbeings so you know what they are like. (Of course, some of the characters have changed over the passage of time!)
11. Hey, it seems like there's a lot of history to this group that isn't on this page.
Yes, Ook! changed servers and systems and left behind a ton of old RP posts. Some have been saved and reposted, or will be. You'll be fine without it, but if you want, at the moment it is still up here:
http://pub48.ezboard.com/fthediscworld12738
DO NOT POST THERE! No one does anymore.
12. Is there anything else I should know?
The Watchhouse is decorated with skulls and bones, because it was rebuilt for us by Death of Toasters. You can have just about anything happen in your posts, as long as you can think up an explanation. Don't be mean to other posters. Have fun!