Player Handbook

This page is full of information you’ll need to absorb before you apply for whitelisting, and we hope you will find it useful throughout your experiences in GunSmoke County. We have presented this information in what we hope are easily digested sections. Do take your time to take it all in and of course, ask in Discord if you have any questions.

Character Creation

When completing your backstory it should be at least 750 characters (not words) in length. When planning a character you need to consider certain things, who the person is, what their character is like, where they've come from and what their trade or class is. In GSRP there are multiple classes to choose from. Read all about the classes on the Classes page. Bear in mind each class has a variety of ways it can be played. Just because you are a doctor doesn't mean you can't open up a shop and sell tonics, or you gave up your dentistry to do menial labour and collect resources to sell to others. You still retain the knowledge of your skill set but you can role-play how you want your character to live. Once your character is in GunSmoke there are a number of jobs you may choose to apply for or adopt as part of your character's story. Please see the Jobs page for information about the types of jobs you can have in GSRP.

Please note, when bringing in a new character to GunSmoke County you hold no claim of possessions of any kind or relation to the kin you left behind. Any information you gathered, or knowledge of any previous life or people will not exist in your new life. When you change characters you walk away from your story line and the story lines of everyone around you as they are at the time you knew them. Bringing in a new character to in any way take revenge for the death of a previous character, yours or anyone else’s, is strictly forbidden.

Entering the County as a relative of an existing resident requires admin approval. We will talk to you and your future relative to establish the extent of OOC planning and then either approve or deny the relative application as appropriate. Please consider our zero tolerance for OOC RP planning before applying to enter the County as a relative of an existing resident. This does not affect new characters entering the County together as relatives.

You may only have one character at any one time.

character races

All races can be represented in character, the Wild West was a very diverse place. If you want to be any creed or colour you are encouraged to do so. Keep in mind that a cartoon version disrespecting or stereotyping a race will not be permitted. This is not a server for PVP cowboys vs. Indians, it will not be accepted here.

Native Americans in GSRP

There is no Native American class and Native Americans do not have any specific weapons or rules in GSRP. You are, however, welcome to play any race or creed in GS, and you are free to amend our current class & profession structure to fit. For example, a doctor might be a medicine man, if building a native settlement you might refer to your mayor as chief. It bears repeating that any hint of tension or provocation based on race will not be tolerated whatsoever.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

While we want to give individual players as much freedom as possible when it comes to creating characters we would ask that a degree of realism is kept in mind. Please keep hairstyles a natural colour & reasonable to the time/place.

Ensure any tattoos are appropriate, tattoos outside of Native American tribes, sideshows and the navy were unusual. By all means incorporate scars/wounds into your character’s history and reflect these on your person.

While you may paint a brand or appropriate war paint onto your livestock bright, neon colours, lovehearts, lettering, etc are not allowed without specific prior admin approval.

Tattoos and brands can be added to but must not be covered in any way nor removed at all. Brands & tattoos that have been added to must be kept the same, additions may not be removed.

TIME & AGING

GunSmoke is set in real time. You may age your character a maximum of five years between seasons and your aging should not be broadcasted in RP without specific reason.

These five years are counted from the age you started the previous season, irrespective of if you had a birthday mid season. If you start season one as 10yrs old and have a birthday mid season you will still only be able to age to a maximum of 15yrs old at the start of season two. If you are 15yrs old at the start of a season you may have a birthday and age to 16yrs old mid season but you will still be considered a teen with the relevant restrictions until the end of the season.

Please note that all children and teens must submit a re-roll between seasons if they’re aging their character at all.

Please respect other people’s story lines when talking about aging. If you wish to age up any more than 5 years you will need to skip a season as that character before bringing them back aged up. You do not have to age your character between seasons if you do not wish to.

Child Characters

Child characters must have a [c] next to their name to represent their age between 5-12 or [t] if 13-15. You must remember your age and your actions should represent a child.

Child characters being brought into the server as the child of existing characters must enter as 5yrs old to ensure the aging rule isn't implicitly broken by their parents. If you agree to roll into the child of existing characters you will be tied into playing the character as a child for at least 3 seasons before you'd be able to age them into an adult. Please be aware of this before agreeing to play an existing character's child.

children & crime

As a child character you may not commit any high crimes. These are crimes that would result in a potential permadeath execution. You may play a thief or play as an Oliver Twist to Fagin type character with an adult outlaw. It is going to be up to you as a child character to act reasonably when it comes to the types of crime you would be capable of physically achieving.

Child Restrictions

Not all classes are open to a child. A child may not be a doctor, blacksmith, carpenter or gunsmith. There are also jobs that children will not be able to do: mayor, sheriff, deputy, justice of the peace, judge & attorney. Children can not hunt for nor claim bounties. Children are not allowed to handle firearms and are limited to using bows, slingshots & knives.

Teens (classes & jobs)

Children between the ages of 13-15 must use the (t) tag in their name to represent their status as teenagers. Teens may have any class, including those normally restricted to adults (doctor, blacksmith, carpenter & blacksmith), however they may only act as apprentices of these trades. This means they must register each season as an apprentice with an adult ‘master craftsman’ who will take responsibility for their training and development. This must be done by the master craftsman and apprentice at the Federal Bank. The teen is responsible for ensuring they have active participation in their trade development by a master craftsman at all times.

Unregistered teens with an adult profession may not perform any tasks or craft any items produced by that class.

Teens with non ‘adult only’ classes may perform all class activities as normal with no registration required, although they can seek out an apprenticeship and master craftsman if desired.

Teens may not take on any of the adult jobs of mayor, sheriff, deputy, justice of the peace, judge or attorney. They may act as assistants or apprentices to adults with these jobs but may not fulfil any part of these jobs by themselves. Teens may not act as bailiffs or bounty hunters.

TEENs (FIREARMS & CRIME)

Teens may own and operate firearms only after registering with their local sheriff and undertaking a mandatory gun operating and safety course which can be provided by a ‘firearm educator’. Each town sheriff should choose 1-2 local gunsmiths they trust to complete the required level of education and should refer any teenager wishing to register as a firearm owner to these gunsmiths. Only gunsmiths registered with local sheriffs as ‘firearm educators’ should be used for this purpose. After the gunsmith is satisfied the required level of confidence and knowledge has been achieved by the teen they should come to the Federal Bank where they can ‘sign off’ on the teenager, allowing them to start carrying and using a firearm. No gunsmith should sign off on a teen before they are confident the teen understands how to operate firearms safely and have the required maturity to take responsibility for owning and using a gun. Teens may not operate or have a gun on their person without being signed off by a firearm educator at the Federal Bank.

Teens may commit high crimes and can be executed.

ROLEPLAYING IN CHARACTER

While logged in you must maintain your character at all times, your dialogue and manners should represent the time & place.

In the world of GunSmokeRP there are phrases to assist your roleplaying experience to help everyone know what’s what:

Season: Previous seasons in our story can be referred to in real time, for example ‘a few weeks ago’ or ‘in June’.

Age: The level of an animal.

Training: The act of leveling up yourself or your animal.

Please note, we do not allow voice changers to be used on GSRP.

WHAT NOT TO DO IN CHARACTER

Never say you are going AFK or in your ‘head’. There are toilets in Ark, if you need to excuse yourself from roleplay, use them!

Chatbox: Only to be used OOCly if your headset is broken or you have some immediate computer problem that cannot be solved by waiting a few minutes.

Chatbox emoting: You are allowed to emote in text what your character is doing in the current situation if engaged in RP that would benefit from your physical description.

Example: *Holds Johnny’s hand and squeezes it.*

Emoting thoughts or feelings is not allowed.

What is meta-gaming

This is when you gain any knowledge learned through name-plating the player, outside information through Twitch, Discord, or word of mouth out of character, or from listening in through a closed door when you shouldn't hear it and use this information in character.

Name-plating

This is when you read a character's name floating above their heads. Spyglasses should never be used to read a player's name tag as this is immersion breaking and very disruptive to everybody's role-play.

Word of Mouth

If someone tells you something out of character that you would not know in character, for example via Discord, you can not use this information in roleplay.

Behind Closed Doors

Ark mechanics, as we all know, aren't perfect, sound doesn't take any notice of walls or doors, or even closed windows and land formations. Think before you act, could you really hear that? Unless the door is ajar or a window is opened or there is a gap you can see through such as with scaffolding or settler floor pieces, you didn't hear it. Although it can be difficult this also applies to if you’re inside a building and hear your name being called. If there aren’t any open windows or doors, you didn’t hear them. Please help one another with this by not running up and down a street yelling someone’s name or just shouting ‘Helloooo?!’. Find someone in a realistic way, knock on the door of their house (i.e. open your mic and knock on your desk, or wall, or other suitable surface), are they at their place of business, check the saloon, find someone else to ask. Hearing a knocking at the door is allowed and this method of gaining entry/someone’s attention is encouraged.

OOC RP PLANNING

Using Discord, or any other OOC means, to plan RP is not allowed, this includes planning romantic relationships, business ventures, crimes, etc. Everything your character experiences should be through organic RP and while you might have a general idea of where you’d like to see your character end up it is likely the journey will change depending on the course of organic RP. The only time OOC planning is necessary is when you’re recruiting a player to be your child or if you are planning on starting a character as married (and you and your spouse are appropriately aged up, if existing characters) or part of a group at the beginning of a season. OOC RP planners will be subject to disciplinary action and the RP may be voided.

NEW LIFE RULE

After dying in game during PVP, active roleplay or there were people around when you died you must not re-spawn or leave the re-spawn screen for 15 minutes after your death. You may only return to the scene where you died (and collect your ‘deathbag’) if you were there longer than 15 minutes before dying. If you die at home within PVP or active RP you may collect your ‘deathbag’ after waiting the required 15 minutes to respawn.

Permadeath is optional for PVE, permadeath rules apply.
There is no amnesia associated with the new life rule in GSRP.
If you succumbed to a PVE death and no one is around you can go directly back to your things and collect them with no waiting period.
If you die during an event, then any broadcasted event rules apply.

VALUE OF LIFE RULE

Everyone should value their life at all times. Always keep your character’s limitations in mind when reacting to a potentially dangerous situation. While a rough and tumble wrangler might engage in defending their cattle from outlaws it’s unlikely a child or non combat trained individual would try and survive a shootout with attackers. Running for safety and help should be most non-PVP centred characters’ first choice when attacked. Value of life also applies to PVE situations, for example if a leap would realistically break your legs you should find a safer route to your destination. Jumping off your mount before it lands to avoid damage is not allowed.

The value of life rule also applies to if you have been arrested and have a sheriff or deputy with their gun unholstered, unless you believe arrest would undoubtably end in death (only a potential result in the most serious of cases with irrefutable evidence) you should allow yourself to be brought back to a jail for questioning.

PERMA-DEATH

Certain professions such as mayor, sheriff, deputy and outlaw are all characters that could experience permanent death otherwise known as permadeath.

Permadeath happens when your character is executed by the law for a high crime or if you are a perm-able character and are killed through an admin approved assassination OR if you are a perm-able character, agree to partake in a duel and lose. If you are an average person and wish to kill off your existing character forever you may; either through a fight or perhaps just a farming accident that turns deadly. When your character dies and it is a permadeath you must submit your new character for whitelisting again.

On the permadeath of a second character, within the same season, you must sit out the rest of that season. If you perma that second character through choice or you are executed or killed again, your lives have run their course and you will have to wait to play and whitelist again. This is to prevent an overflow of people rolling the same sorts of characters over and over. Want to play nothing but murdering outlaw characters? You better get good at hiding and surviving in the wilderness.

See the Crime & Punishment page, ‘Assassinations’ section, for more information on perma-death.

RE-ROLLING INTO A NEW CHARACTER

It’s understandable that sometimes you might get bored or don’t like the way your character is heading and want a fresh start, or whoops you died a horrible death. One reroll per season is allowed, including execution. Your actions in game dictate your characters present and future. Rerolls will be accepted during open whitelisting times throughout the season and the rules listed above regarding your new character being a completely new start apply. You may not re-roll if you are wanted for a crime. You may not re-roll into any sort of relation of your previous characters. This is not restricted to blood relations, the purpose of re-rolling is to start something completely new.

changing trades

If you aren't fulfilled by your current class and want a change you will have to wait for the next season and re-apply with your current character to explain how you learned your new trade. In the time you are waiting you can roleplay as an apprentice to someone who has the trade you want to learn and spend in game time with them to learn it. This should be detailed in your trade reroll application.

RELIGION IN GUNSMOKE

While we hope there will be religions in GunSmoke we have made the decision that all religions should be ones from the player’s imagination. Use this as an opportunity to create something amazing and spread it among the people!

While you are free to make your character any invented religion you choose (or none at all), as with race in GunSmoke, any discrimination based on religious choice will not be permitted. You will not use any inflammatory or offensive terms in or out of character in reference to a character’s religion.

ANIMAL TAGGING

Tamed animals must be appropriately tagged at all times. There are no exceptions to this. The accepted format for animal tagging is [Animal Name] [First Initial] [Last Name]. Pony Express horses are tagged differently, please see the Post Office Handbook for more information.