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I’ve been running the Blue Dwarf play-by-post game for 11 years, and love it. It was because of my love of play-by-post games (Blue Dwarf in particular) that I started to realise there wasn’t really a decent tool for creating and running a game. People make do with forums or yahoo groups, but these things aren’t really made with roleplaying games in mind and could do with a few extra features. It was this reason why I created OngoingWorlds.com.

Blue Dwarf was run in a Yahoo Group, which hasn’t always been a perfect experience. Occasionally posts you submit go missing, and either turn up a day later or never. This is mainly a problem when a player moves the story forward, but someone else doesn’t get to see it, posts in the same time frame and unknowingly undoes the events of the first post. Very frustrating, and can lead to arguments over whose post should get priority, and which is ignored.

Coupled with other minor annoyances, I decided that Yahoo Groups isn’t the best place for roleplaying games, despite it being really popular. I wanted a decent place to keep character biographies, and with Blue Dwarf created a separate website for members to be able to keep these. But it always felt so far away, and very few people made the arduous 1 or 2 click journey away from the Yahoo Group onto the website to look at the character biographies. I thought there must be a better way and searched for a decent system for roleplaying games, and when I found they all shared similar problems that’s when I decided to make my own.

Moving everything over

So Blue Dwarf has a firm place in OngoingWorld’s creation, and I’m glad that I’ve moved it across. It wasn’t easy to copy all the posts across however, I had to create a script that did this (Yahoo were unhelpful, they don’t provide any means of exporting your game!) and pulled the text into the OngoingWorlds database. Blue Dwarf has been running for over 11 years, which means a hell of a lot of posts. With over 12,000 posts, Blue Dwarf is now the biggest game on OngoingWorlds, the current second place is Terrifyingly Yours with over 170.

Members of Blue Dwarf will have to register on OngoingWorlds, and recreate their character biographies. This is a little bit of work, but not such a bad thing. Many of the biographies were in need of updating so this gives everyone a good opportunity to recreate them, and take into account current events and changes their character has gone through.

Benefits of OngoingWorlds

OngoingWorlds has many benefits for the members of Blue Dwarf, including the added control they have over their character profiles, and also the added perks like the ability to rate each other’s posts, and receive awards. The latter is important, many years ago we used to have an annual awards ceremony which we called the “Longwoods”, (named after a member of Blue Dwarf who sadly died). We haven’t done the awards for a few years due to it taking up a bit too much time, but it would be easy to start them up again using OngoingWorlds’ awards, allowing each character to get the award added to their profile for all to see, and so they never forget.

A new start for Blue Dwarf

I’ve got many ideas for the storyline of Blue Dwarf, and am planning a big story that will change everything in the game so far. This should make the game feel fresh and new again.

We’re always looking for new members to join us, and for those members to really get involved and create their own storylines. If you aren’t a member already, visit Blue Dwarf on OngoingWorlds and click “join”.

Jay was played for over 10 years by Andy Longman

Captain Jay Chrysler has been killed, detonating a bomb that put an end to the Hymenoptera across the galaxy.

The bomb that destroyed the Hymenoptera homeworld including the Hymenoptera Queen. This disrupted the Hymenoptera’s hive mind, causing many to drop dead around the galaxy (see the post here). The bomb’s timer was destroyed by Jay’s evil double “Evil Jay“, who was working with the Hymenoptera. To ensure the bomb was detonated, Jay ordered the team of Dwarfers to leave, and detonated it manually.

Jay Chrysler ordered the Blue Dwarf to attack the Hymenoptera’s homeworld after an attack that killed his wife and unborn child (see the post here). His life was made hell the following weeks when his sister Vanessa was killed, his favourite shuttle the Phoenix was destroyed, and his clone Jayne was killed.

Andy Longman, who played Jay decided to leave the Blue Dwarf because his expecting a baby and won’t have enough tome to dedicate to Blue Dwarf. In his last email he said:

I don’t think it’s any secret that I’ve been struggling to find time to post in recent months, probably longer. Life is moving quickly, with it becoming harder and harder to fit everything that I want to do in, and in July, I’ll be becoming a father for the first time. As excited about this as I am, I’m also extremely anxious, and I know that I’m going to find it even harder to find time for Blue Dwarf, so it seems only fair that I leave.

It was a very hard decision to make. I’ve been a member of Blue Dwarf now for over ten years, and have been a moderator for nearly all of that time. It’s been a huge part of my life, (I’ve been a member for almost a third of my life in fact) but it is simply time to move on. We see it often, where members leave without ever saying goodbye, and their character go forgotten. I couldn’t do that, I had to give my characters, especially Jay, a proper send off. Lets face it, he was never going to die peacefully in his jeep, I mean sleep.

It’s been great fun guys, and I want to thank each and everyone of you, and all past members for making it such a great experience. I wouldn’t have been her for a decade if it wasn’t for all of you.

To Onion, Becca, Smandy, JHXMT, Chris Kentlea, Chris Harris, (and others I’m sure) I’ve known you guys for years now, longer than many of the people I know in real life (including my wife) and even though I’ve never met any of you in the flesh, I truly value the friendships we’ve built over the years,  I especially want to thank Onion, as without him there would never have been an opportunity for me to get to know any of you.

Who knows, I might one day grace your inboxes with a post again yet, but, if not, I hope you’ll all remember me, and of course, Jay.

Anyway, I’m getting emotional now, so I’d better sign off.

Stay Frosty guys. Love you all.

Andy/ Jay

Andy joined Blue Dwarf in January 2001, and became a Moderator a few years later. Jay started out as a pilot, eventually became head of the Navigation Department, and then became Captain after the death of Captain Jed Calvert.

Just to embarass him, you can read his first ever post here!

NPC’s can normally be categorised into two types:

Named NPC’s - This is someone who is usually specific to the current plot, either a main bad guy who’s plans you are trying to foil, or an innocent character who’s planet you might be trying to save. These characters are probably being used by the GM to drive the plot forward, so make sure you check before you use them in your posts.

Unnamed NPC’s - This is a character who will probably never be mentioned again. Usually they will be referred to by their characteristics, like “the bald man” or “the one with the limp”. Use these if you need someone else to do something your character can’t do. Like for example your character is leading an away-mission and you get into a fight. You can make the action more dramatic by mentioning “the bald man” stabbing an alien to your left. Just to add more drama and depth to the fight. Also if a crazed bad guy wants to show off his power, he can mercilessly slaughter an NPC that no-one cares about but shows he is willing to murder.

If you are going to use this character loads of times then you can add him/her to the Crew Roster. This will show their profile to everyone else and allow other people to use your NPC.

Please don’t try and add every random person to the Crew Roster though, especially if you’re never going to mention them again!

If they are clumsy, write them making a tit of themselves in front of everyone and being embarrassed. If they are incredibly kind, introduce them being nice to someone. If they are incredibly arrogant, show them being incredibly arrogant. You can develop the characters much further than just these simple qualities, but it’s somewhere to start rather than “Bob meets Frank and says hello. Frank waves neutrally at him.”

How will your character come aboard?

If you want to start afresh but without the hassle of a back story, you could say that you have been in stasis for the majority of this mission as a “backup crewmember” and you have been brought out of stasis now, 3 million years later. You will be able to mention that your character doesn’t properly know their way around yet, and start to meet new people.

See things from an alien’s perspective

If you are playing an alien or gelf and have just come aboard, you might want to mention how different the Blue Dwarf is to your home planet. The things that we take for granted might be strange and unusual to an alien, so it could be worth pointing little things out.

1. Remember; You’re just a crewmember. Sorry, I know y’all wanna be superheroes with decades of experience, but that’s just tedious. No one likes a know-it-all.
2. Related to the first point; keep that goddamn finger offa the goddamn god-mode button. You cannot run into a heavily fortified facility and single-handedly wipe out all the enemy. Ya just look like a wanker.
3. Don’t have fries with that. You don’t need to have your own ship, flunkie, AI, time-machine, and superpowers. If you absolutely INSIST on a power, keep it funny. Like psychic powers brought on by PMS/PMT.
4. Enough of the ‘don’t's for now, time for some ‘do’s. Have some personality flaws. Anti-heroes are terrific! Everyone loves to laugh at a cynical bastard being…well, a cynical bastard (but at the same time, avoid being totally insular and not interacting with other characters). Or your character can have a severe drug problem. Anything like that allows for character development. Your character should be able to grow, or it will just become stale, you’ll get bored of them, and either kill them off so as to introduce a new one, or leave the group…or both.
5. Pair up with two or three other characters. That way, when away-mission time comes, you aren’t the loner kid no one picks to be on their football team. And it also helps with character development.
6. A distinct trend has been observed; Guys wanna blow shit up, women wanna get in a relationship and have babies…frankly, the guys way is better to read. This ain’t a romance novel, dammit! Relationships CAN be good, if you think you can actually subtly weave it into the overall plot. Best to at least wait till you become a well-established character first.
7. Last of all, for the love of all things good and holy, TALK TO THE MODS! Not only can they help out, but you can tell them if you have an idea for a new plot after the one that is currently happening. That way, you won’t decide to just hijack the one we’re already on (hopefully). You WILL be slapped with great prejudice.

So, consider yourselves warned. I speak from experience, and have made many of the above mistakes myself. Result; I read over old posts of mine and cringe. And not in a good way.

By Reuben Jurott aka Mk.10

Choose a name

The first thing people will notice about your character is their name. If they are a wacky character, they might have a wacky name. If they are a posh character, they may have a posh sounding name.  If they are a mechanoid, they might have a name with lots of numbers in it. If they are a national/regional stereotype, they might have a national/regional sounding name (Don’t be racist though!!).

No Red Dwarf names
We seriously advise against using Red Dwarfy sounding names like Lister, or Rimmer, or Kotchanski, you could come up with a long tenuous reason why your character is related to one of the Red Dwarf crew, but we’ve seen loads of them by now. And remember Lister was an orphan so don’t go making yourself  his brother!

Random names
Seventh Sanctum has a good random name generator if you’re stuck for names.

Character background

Your character’s background is important as it make him or her the person they are today. Do they have any hidden secrets? Has it been a strange set of circumstances that lead them to where they are today?

Nasty things happening to them as a child might make them a stronger person, or it might make them a total nut-job.

A character with a dark and dodgy background is usually more interesting to write about than someone who grew up in a safe loving environment.

But don’t go too overboard! Make it realistic at least, the worst character histories are ones that mention the character has saved the world twice before their 16th birthday. Don’t make your character a hero! It will make them extremely hard to play, and it will frustrate everyone else when your character kills a million people in one paragraph without any drama or suspense.

If you want to have a lot of fun posting, you need to give your character some challenges to overcome, and conflicts to get out of. A post about a character struggling to fight an enemy barehanded by being resourceful is loads more interesting than about someone who just stands still easily shooting loads of people dead. A character who finds everything easy is boring to write about.

A good background might lead you to wanting to explore more into it at some moments. Maybe something that happened in the past has just popped into mind by something in the present, it could be interesting to see your character have a flashback (but only if it’s relevant, this isn’t series 1 of Lost). Keep as many relatives or old friends alive, in case you want to have your character bump into them at some stage. This could be a good opportunity for character development in a time when posting is going slow, or the storyline is in a slump.

Personality

Choosing the personality of your character is extremely important. It will determine what he or she does at all moments. When they are under attack will your character run and hide, or rise up to the occasion? The first is more heroic, but the second is funnier.

There are several types of personality types that you can consider for your character:

• Pessimistic - does your character worry and complain about things often?
• Optimistic – is you character care-free and happy all the time?
• Enthusiastic – is your character good at their job? Or are they a slacker?
• Selfish – does your character only care about themselves?
• Generous – would your character stop to pick up a distress call and help out?
• Pushy – does your character try to order other people around?
• Egotistical – does your character boast about everything?
• Laziness – does your character really hate having to do stuff?
• Helpless – does your character constantly get into situations they need rescuing from?
• Frank – does your character speak their mind often, and tell it how it is?
• Nasty – does your character go out of their way to spite other people?
• Ambitious – would your character step on people to climb the ladder to success?
• Shyness – is your character quiet and afraid to talk to other people?
• Forgetful – is you character a total retard?

Think about who your character is when writing your posts, and make them react to situations realistically. For example a person who was tortured in his past by clowns would react badly to going on an away-mission to a circus planet.

Don’t be ‘just another alien’

Try to avoid being ‘just another alien’. Red Dwarf has a strict no-alien policy, it states that aliens do not exist. In the Blue Dwarf game however, we have broken that rule a few times, but the essence of being alien should still be kept a rare thing. If you insist on having an alien for your character, don’t just bring him/her aboard and assume everything is nice and okay – being on a human spaceship would be a very bizarre thing for the alien! Go into detail about how different life is.

Also people might not treat an alien the same, this could lead to many tensions and misunderstandings among characters. Think about differences in culture, laws, faith, language. Really bring this to life as being an alien has many advantages for challenging character development.

Character flaws / pet hates

Nobody is perfect. All the best characters have a darker side, or some personality flaw they have to overcome. Indiana Jones had a crippling fear of snakes, which made that scene where he dropped into a pit of them all the more interesting. If he loved snakes it would be dead boring if he instead goes “Ooh lots of cuddly snakes” and starts stroking them. Giving your characters a crippling fear, then making them face it can be loads of fun!

Anti-hero

Your character doesn’t have to be a goody two-shoes, they could be someone who only looks out for themselves and will screw everyone else over, or would care more about what’s for lunch than to save someone else’s life. Anti-heroes are terrific! Everyone loves to laugh at a cynical bastard being…well, a cynical bastard (but at the same time, avoid being totally insular and not interacting with other characters).

Or your character can have a severe drug or alcohol problem. Anything like that allows for character development.

Character growth

Your character should be able to grow, or it will just become stale, you’ll get bored of them, and either kill them off so as to introduce a new one, or leave the group…or both. And we don’t like loosing people for silly reasons!