Folderol

Multiplayer Module for
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

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Folderol Mission Statement

Updated May 18, 2004 0830 PDT

Purpose of this Document

This document provides a reference for what Folderol's goals and expectations are. It is intended to liberate players and contributors from uncertainty by clearly communicating the founders' thoughts.

What is Folderol?

Folderol is a Neverwinter Nights persistent world that uses the Hordes of the Underdark expansion pack. Being a persistent world, Folderol is always online and ready for play.

Folderol's Goal

Folderol's goal is to be a comfortable, light-hearted environment. Role-play is strongly encouraged but not enforced.

Folderol is a colorful place. Jokes, puns, and pop culture references are tucked into the game for players to find. Unusual playable races are available, such as goblin, lizardman, dryad, yuan-ti and pixie.

Rules

The One Big Rule (that's OBR, pronounced "uber",) in Folderol is not to interfere with others' fun. The following are only aspects of the OBR. It's up to the DMs to decide if someone's being enough of a pain to warrant action. Once the DM has decided to take action, anything's possible (from a friendly warning through banning.)

1. Don't attack a Player Character ("PC") if the victim is not into that kind of thing.
   
   If things are moving toward violence, an OOC direct message ("Are you okay with PvP?") is a good way to make sure. If a PC gets killed then complains, DMs tend to side with the deceased. As a slayer, realize you're putting your fate in the hands of your victim.
   
   Of course, if you're going around picking fights, losing them, then trying to get people banned, the DMs will be very put out.
   
   
2. Don't abuse players' eyes.
   
   Putting annoying text on the screen is a no-no. Humorous character names are fine ("Lyte Phingers",) amusing insults are okay ("Your father was a hampster, and your mother smelt of elderberries!") Excessive profanity or verbal assaults on players (as opposed to characters) will bring punishment. It's up to the DM involved what qualifies as going over the line.
   
   

How to Become a DM

Folderol is not actively seeking DMs. However, at the discretion of the senior DMs, interested players may become DMs.

DM powers are not granted lightly. The senior DMs must all agree that the candidate can be trusted with DM powers. This trust can only be won by ongoing demonstration.

Players who wish to become DMs must:

1. Have contributed to Folderol. Even without building rights or DM powers, those with the right stuff to be DMs will find ways to contribute. This can be done as a character in-game or on the forums. Preferably both.
   
   
2. Have outstanding communication skills. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively is needed. There's a distinction between the two. "Clearly" means being understood. "Effectively" means your words make people want to work with you.
   
   
3. Have outstanding social skills. DMs must exemplify social good judgment. Even when dealing with unreasonable people, Folderol DMs must be reasonable.
   
   
4. Be a team player. This can mean being a great leader or a great follower. Ideally, it means both.
   
   
5. Be selfless. DMs are players too...they're in it for the fun. But at the same time, even though DMs are the most powerful creatures in Folderol, they can't be grandstanders. The player characters must remain the stars of this show.
   
   

How to Become a Builder

The most important qualities a builder can possess are:

1. Ability to follow direction. In order to keep the module manageable, there are ownership, naming, and style conventions that must be followed. Builders must be willing to work with the rest of the team to make their stuff fit in. We're happy to explain how to do this stuff, but builders must be willing to conform to guidelines.
   
   
2. Writing ability. Every item that can be examined must have a description. The descriptions must be fun to read. Spelling and grammar are important.
   
   
3. Creativity. Statistics are boring, back story is fun. "Clothes of Stinking Cloud" is boring, but "Putrid Rags of Lugo the Dunnyman" is great.
   
   

Those who want to help in simple ways can create items (clothes, weapons, armor--stuff PCs can pick up.) How fast places are found for this content in the module usually depends on what the minimum level requirement of the gear is. Non-magic clothes can generally go into Folderol within a week. A +5 Holy Avenger could take months; we would want to make a quest for that kind of thing.

If you're interested in more involved stuff, like creating hunting areas or scripting, careful planning and close coordination with the team will be necessary.

You actually read all that? Wow. If you put up with all that text and are still interested in building, post on the forum telling us why you want to build.

Where to Find Out More

The Folderol web site is http://dansego.com/folderol. It has background information about Folderol, and includes links to the Folderol forum.

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