The Anti munch project

The AMP
The Anti Munch Project is all about roleplay awareness. With the onset
of poorly skilled roleplayers growing larger all the time, we need this
thread to show them where they are going wrong.

This AMP thread lists first the types of roleplayer (all my own
definitions by the way), and then the various types of
Muncher/Godmoder/Godmodder.

The types of munching have now been ordered alphabetically. I tried to
go for 'seriousness of offence', but it was too difficult. I'm open to
suggestions.


The Munch Scale
1 - Not very munch, not very annoying.
2 - Not very munch, a tiny little bit annoying.
3 - Not very munch, slightly annoying.
4 - Slightly munch, somewhat annoying.
5 - Definitely munch, annoying.
6 - Seriously munch, very annoying.
7 - Annoyingly munch.
8 - Annoying and inconvenient munch.
9 - Annoying, unfair, and inconvenient munch.
10 - The be-all-and-end-all of munching. Avoid like the plague.

Types of Roleplayers:

Oldbies: Are veterans of roleplaying. They generally know best
after years of experience. Becoming an oldbie, however, is not
necessarily the ultimate goal; many people are fine just settling down
as Literate.

Elites: Elites are on their way to becoming Oldbies, but somehow
veer off-course and become ass hats instead. Elites can be recognized by
their "Elites only" policy, with no lee-way whatsoever. They are
generally quite cocky, think they are better, and insist on using reams
and reams of detail. This can be particularly true for magic users, who
are convinced that their descriptions of the traits and limits of magic
are unquestionable. Another trademark Elite sign is rejecting AMP, and claiming that "common
sense" should be used instead. This is in fact pointless since the AMP
is common sense. (Not all Literates become Elites before they move on to Oldbies (in
fact, some Elites never become Oldbies at all. Don't worry.)

Literates: A growing minority, literate roleplayers are just
that. They use correct punctuation and grammar, and roleplay fairly.
Literates often refer to, and follow the AMP (Anti-Munch Project).

Proby (Probationary): Literally someone in between the 'newb' and
'Literate' stages. They combine traits of the two, in various forms,
and will very probably become Literate soon enough.

Newbie: A Newbie can at first seem to be a n00b, they can though,
learn to correctly roleplay fairly and adequately. Newbies are to be
encouraged and treated well, and will often grow into skilled Literates.

ne0 n00b: ne0s (never use a capital 'n' for them!) at first
appear to be Literates. This falsehood becomes apparent after a few
posts however, as they tend to break the AMP a lot, and are actually
just n00bs who can spell.

n00b: (Don't use a capital 'n' for these either!) n00bs are the
worst roleplayer available. A sad and terribly derogatory approach to
take, but the simple fact of the matter is that they just cannot and
will not roleplay fairly, even when outnumbered, outgunned, and
obviously dead in character. They will often resort to flaming, leading to eventual bans, new
accounts, and new bans.

Types of n00bs and munchers:

Aimbotter: Especially annoying when using NPCs, as NPCs don't get
to argue about munch.
Munch Rating: 7
A: Three hundred seventy of my trained assassin gymnasts crest the hill,
sight you, and rush toward you.
B: Luckily, I have three hundred sixty-nine bullets in my chain gun! I
quickly mow them all down, each taking a single bullet to the head, and
peg the last one with a rock in the sternum.

Augustine: Far, far too prevalent. They try to carry something
from one RP into another, just because they're in the same sub-forum.
Munch Rating: 8
A: Given that this RP's technology base is medieval, I happily drive my
cart to the market to buy some maggot-ridden meat.
B: Too late! I already got there in my Gundam and blew up everything
with my insanely overpowered weapons! And don't start whining, because
my Gundam's already pre-approved in the "This Is Not a Medieval
Technology Base RP" thread.

Baghdad Bobbit: An advanced (or is that "degraded"?) form of
Puppetmaster and Aimbotter combined. These people soon become bored of
anybody with a lick of skill, and wander off in a huff because the RP
will take too long for their precious, precious time.
Munch Rating: 5
A: I fire at the stationary target, hitting twice but missing with my
remaining four rounds.
B: I get tired of your realistic RPing style and poke you in the neck,
collapsing your trachea. You die writhing in torment.

Boa Constrictor: Threads that have a long list of rules that prevent
any characters except their own from roleplaying in that thread. No
example will be given here, since that would be suggesting rules that
shouldn't be used at all, and used separately these rules would be fine.
Boa Constrictors most commonly like to ban most forms of magic, guns,
NPCs, technology, 'special' abilities etc. The result is, as I said, a
thread in which very few characters can venture.
I do emphasise that threads should have whichever rules they want,
within fairness to other roleplayers. Lists of rules which prevent too
much are too, let's face it, n00bish.
[Suggested by oxymoron_02]
Munch Rating: 4

Daydreamer: Not exactly munch, per se, but it does get annoying.
They manage to turn seemingly coherent RP into a mad ramble about
totally unrelated things. Which is not to say that adding a little
insight in the middle of an RP is bad; but try to make it only a few
lines, three at the most, as anything else just distracts from the
current events taking place.
Munch Rating: 3
A: In the middle of the intense shootout, I dash across the narrow
alley, ducking and weaving in hopes to avoid getting hit. I'm
unsuccessful; two bullets peg me in the shoulder, throwing me back into a
Dumpster.
B: The bullets make me think back to my days as a youth, when I had to
melt down tin soldiers to use as musket balls against the Redcoats... or
was it redskins? I can't remember. Anyway, I had to walk uphill all
three ways to school and back, running from glaciers all the while. It
was torture, lemme tell ya. And then there's the story of how I met my
first wife...

Gaseous Snake: A combination of McFly and Lucky Irishmen. They
will often attempt to alter the RP right after the fairly playing RPer
has made a post that will see the Snake's demise. They are not, however,
as desperate as McFlys in what they change.
Munch Rating: 6
A: I walk to the door and open it.
B: Being a fellow with a bit of foresight, I hooked that doorknob to a
car battery an hour ago. You're thrown across the room.

Godmoder: A rather broad term, basically covering a
character/roleplayer who can overcome any situation. They will often
have flashy powers, ignore just about anything you say and do, and
somehow manage to be completely unaware of their own unfairness
(otherwise known as stupidity).
Munch Rating: 8
A: Now that you're strapped to the end of a naval cannon, I fire it.
B: Whoosh! I nimbly dodge, somehow forgetting the fact that I'm
restrained by three-hundred-pound chain!

Hi-jacker: These are intensely annoying for thread creators. They
are often members of that thread, also. These are the people that take
over a thread they are roleplaying in, and either add things in, or
perform actions that affect everyone roleplaying in the thread.
[Suggested by oxymoron_02]
Munch Rating: 5
(Real example)
A: Ok! Our base is under attack and we have to defend it!
B: *Goes and activates the base's self destruct* Everybody run you have
three minutes!

Hiver: So named after such things as the xenomorphs from Aliens,
the Klendathu bugs from Starship Troopers (which both use hives), and
the teeming hoardes they generally are. These hoardes are always
fearless, will battle until dead, and quite often have some excessive
weapons and/or armour. Alternate names are Beehivers or Ants.
Basically, it's the guys who have too many NPCs. [Suggested by
oxymoron_02]
Munch Rating: 7
A: *He sat alone in his one-man fighter ship, quickly scanning the radar
for hostiles*
B: *He sat aboard his giant flagship, with his other 1000 ships around
him. He ordered them all to attack the tiny fighter in front of them*

IDKFA: Most likely people attempting to emulate Solid Snake or
some other cheesy spy-novel hero. They never run out of weapons or ammo,
or anything else that leads to them being victorious.
Munch Rating: 8
A: You're all out of ammo for all five of your Ingram submachine guns.
Since you're buck-naked, I know I can now safely step into the open and
begin returning fire.
B: Ha! Little did you know, I have twelve shuriken hidden within my
afro!

Ironclad Sentinel: This is fast becoming a problem, and refers to
when a thread's subject organisation/corporation/military has too many
defenses, or defenses that are unrealistically powerful or just plain
'modey. [Suggested kodachi3]
Munch Rating: 7
A: I am attacking with a battalion of thirty tanks, air support of
twenty gun-ships, and three submarines off the coast with Tomahawk
cruise missiles.
B: Defenses - Forcefield that blocks everything but lets our weapons
out, invisibility shield around the base, 100 SAM turrets, 100 machine
gun turrets, 1000 guards with machine guns, 200 space fighters, 200
tanks.

Lucky Irishman: A mixture of McFly and Augustine. A person whose
character performs an action at chance (with no knowledge of the way it
will tip the balance) that turns events to their favour, despite the
chances of such a thing happening being incredibly slim. [Suggested by
Suddenly Depressed]
Munch Rating: 5
A: With your character totally surrounded in a section of corridor, my
ten skilled ninja prepare to slice him to pieces.
B: My character backs up to the wall, inadvertently tripping the base's
alarm.
A: ((If I'm going to be honest and fair here, I have to tell you that
the alarm would trigger the corridors to be sealed by blast-proof
bulkheads.))
B: ((Oh, oops. Guess my character's safe then.))

McFly: Declining in numbers now, these will alter situations (and
usually first posts) drastically to give them an advantage in roleplay.
Munch Rating: 7
A: Ha! Now that the force field is down, I run inside your evil lair!
B: Um... um... there's also a super-secret second force field which
causes you to die instantly! I just didn't say anything about it
because... um... I had to do my laundry! Not because I just thought of
it now! Honestly!

Min-maxer: Not a lot of those running around here, thank
goodness... that's more of a DnD-style paper game issue. Their own
strength:weakness ratio is off the charts.
Munch Rating: 8
A: I've successfully broken into the facility which gave you your
incredibly 1337 power armor. Now I pull up the file on it. What does it
say about weak points?
B: The metal of my armor is... um... allergic to praying mantis urine.

Miss Cleo: They use Out of Character knowledge to their own
advantage.
Munch Rating: 8
A: ((OOC: There's a secret switch hidden in the lamp.))
B: I suddenly think to myself-- why not check the lamp for hidden
switches? Call me now for your free reading!

NIMBY: The people who quite readily attack others' threads, but
then stop all attacks on their own thread.
Munch Rating: 6
A: They attacked us! Let's go and get them!
B: *Deletes any posts related to an attack and/or b*tch to a moderator*

Oblivious Oaf:People who don't explain how what they are using,
works. Now this is fine to an extent; you're not expected to know the
exact functioning procedure for a gravity-spewing railgun, but at least
give a vague idea behind the mechanism. [Suggested by
Colonel_Commissar_Gaunt]
A: Hahahahahaha my ultra shield deflects any projectile weapon
B: ((Dude, how does that work? I need some info))
A: ((Ahhhhh uhhhhhh.......it....uses......some.......weird
substance......that like...........does.....something......and then it
like.....deflects all projectiles! Thats how it works, its not like I
never explain my gear its just that I just came up with that explanation
now, I mean I just had trouble explaining it.

Overcompensation Stroking: "Quality over Quantity" or "Quantity
does not always mean quality" . This kind of ties in with the daydreamer
but not necessarily. Basically I'm talking about someone who thinks
that the longer their post is, the better it is. It's rare to see this,
but there are people out there like that.
Munch Rating: 7
A: Not even going to give an example.

Oxymoron: Luckily rare. (And no relation to me. I think) They
manage, somehow, to be completely contradictory in their posts.
Munch Rating: 4
A: I'm a farmer with a shotgun.
B: I'm a black hole which emits blinding pulses of visible light!
(For those of you not familiar with physics, black holes allow nothing
out of their immense gravity. Not even light can escape.)

Prosecutor: People who claim every one else is Munching when
they, in fact, are the only one who is. [Suggested by Asmodeus The Crow]
Munch Rating: 8
A: My character is a fire mage who casts a two-turn fire spell that will
launch a fireball.
B: My character is a five year old salamander named George, who makes a
funny noise when he walks. George, despite being a normal salamander, is
immune to fire, and also capable of devastating mages with a single
swipe of his four inch long tail.
A: Well if he's a normal salamander, he can't be immune to fire, and if
he's immune to fire, he can't be a normal salamander...
B: WTF STFU N00B U CANT SAY THAT HES MY CHARACTER NOT YOURS OMG WTF
FUHKIN HAX GODMODE

Puppetmaster: Another overly common occurrence. They basically take
control of others' characters, often to extremes. It is usually ok to
make tiny little changes to another person's character; for example if
your own character launches a fireball at a tree, it is safe to assume
that other characters will probably watch the tree get hit, and thus you
can comment on that.
Depending upon the extent to which they puppetmaster, this is not
necessarily a form of munching.
Munch Rating: 4 - 9
A: I step carefully into the room, peering around for occupants.
B: Suddenly a dragon pokes you in the eye. You run screaming from the
room, whereafter you go home, make a pickle sandwich, and call your
mother to cry about how she ruined your life.

Quaker: They can magically 'spawn' anything. Having a character
which can retreive things from pocket dimensions is not an excuse,
unless said pocket dimension has a previously listed inventory which can
be checked.
Munch Rating: 9
A: My character is wearing a form of armour only vulnerable to a drop of
water from a holy well in South Dakota.
B: *He pulls out the vial of water from a holy well in South Dakota* "I
don't know why I always carried this, but I knew it would come in useful
one day."

Revisionist: Another prevalent problem. They are akin to a McFly,
but rather than trying to be an asshole OOC, they try to be one IC
instead. Their characters change their mind, thus causing an annoyance,
but not necessarily munching.
Munch Rating: 4
A: You chose the blue pill? Ooh, tough luck.
B: Red! I said red!
Don't go pulling that "I can read your previous post" mind game crap,
either!

Romeo's Tragedy: The character who instantly falls in love with a
character who has a crush on them even despite their families hating
each other. Not always annoying as long as it doesn't happen too often.
Munch Rating: 6

A. The Akimichi girl stepped out her door and then froze seeing the
Hyuga boy she's been crushing on the past four years walking past her
house.
B. He hated the Akimichi clan. They were all stupid and fat and a
disgrace to the village. Suddenly he spotted one staring at him and a
blush ran to his cheeks thinking how beautiful she was all of a sudden.

Shoe elf: Pretty obvious.
Munch Rating: 10
A: ((OOC: Well, gotta go to bed. Big neurosurgery test tomorrow.))
B: Ho, ho, ho! Now that the loser's gone to bed, I can strap his
character to a cross and peg him with rotten fruit!

Speedhacker: One of the worst we have to deal with.
Munch Rating: 10
A: I walk to the door and step outside.
B: Suddenly, twelve men grab you, carry you off to my secret lair in
Tibet, and torture you for weeks. When you finally die from the agony,
we bury you in the frozen wastes. Hundreds of years later,
arhcaeologists discover your frozen body and try to determine if you're
another Lucy.

Trinity: The knowledge downloaders, the omniscient Billy
Joe-Bobs. [Also known as Zoicites]
Munch Rating: 8
A: My character was raised by a gang leader in the harsh conditions of a
slum. From this, he learned to wield small firearms fairly effectively
and has limited driving abilities.
B: My character was born on a remote jungle island and can fly or drive
anything and use any gun with perfect aim.

Twink: Sometimes allowed in certain RPs. If the RP isn't
specifically about invincible deities and such, a simple rule is that if
the strengths aren't counterbalanced with relatively equivalent
weaknesses (or if the reasoning behind the phenomenal cosmic powers
isn't eloquently and appropriately explained), you're dealing with a
twink.
Munch Rating: 10
A: A punch coming, eh? Well, seeing as you're a seven-year-old child and
I'm riding in a twenty-meter mecha, I won't bother dodging.
B: Fooled you! I have the power to DESTROY EVERYTHING when I punch it!
I'm just like an X-Man, and therefore require you to suspend all logic
when RPing with me! Oh, and I have the power to steal your girlfriend,
too.

Role Playing Abbreviations

RP- Role Play. It is the act of directing/being another character's
actions. Other than your own. Usually in a story like setting

OOC - Out of Character conversation. These are usually defined as
within ** or (( OOC Commentary here )) It is things that are not
defined within the RP but that needs to be spoken.

Example: As Jon fired the turbo blasters, the ships in front of
him blew up in such sparkles of light and color as he hadn't seen since
he was a child.

((Sorry guys, I gotta ditch. School tomorrow. Laters ))

IC- In character. These are the things that happen within the
scope of the RP. The actions, speech and thoughts of the characters as
well as the NPCs.

NPC - Non Player character. These are the characters that are not
so defined as to be played by an actual player and are usually puppeted
by a GM or Assistant GM

Example: Jon the Barbarian, a level 6 warrior is a PC, Gustof,
the lovable but always conveniently placed informant that you never know
anything about is an NPC.

RPC Role Playing Character. This is the character that you have
decided will represent you within the scope of the game. This term
refers to characters who are already created by another writer/ author/
etc but that you've chosen to play. Although on occasion it is
misinterpreted and assumed to be the same as a OC.

Example: A RPC would be if you were to chose to play Inuyasha in
an RP and attempt to handle things like he would.

OC would be an original character that has no basis on anything
else, although a lot of times different things inspire them. As you
might have a character that 'kinda' looks like Inuyasha...but isn't a
dog demon, but he does have a big assed sword and fights evil.
Etc...etc...

GM- Game Master. Usually the creator of the Role Play or any they
designate to that position.

Mary Sue/Gary Stu's and why they are bad.
Mary Sue/Gary Stu's are the characters that are just chock full of
cliche's so bad that they can make the AMP smell good by comparison.

That is not to say that a Mary Sue can't be fun. Almost every writer or
RPer has a Mary Sue stashed away in their brain. Sometimes they are
ashamed of them, sometimes they simply revamp them once they know
better, and sometimes they display and play them with pride. Reveling in
their Mary Sueness. To each Roleplayer their own.

Mary Sue Litmus Test
http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm

Archetypes

Someone once said, "Between the Bible and Shakespeare, there are no new
stories" or some mishmosh of words saying basically the same thing. I
couldn't find the exact quote.

And it's true, no story or character can be 100% original. There will
always be aspects that have been done before.

Carl Jung [July 26, 1875-June 6, 1961] identified archetypes that
everyone falls into.
The Archetypes

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Shadow The most basic potential for patterning is the Shadow Archetype. This is the potential of experiencing the unconscious side of our unique personalities. As we move deeper into the dark side of our personality personal, identity begins to dissolve into "latent dispositions" common to all men. We experience the chaos which indicates that we are drawing close to the material structure of psychic life. This "Other Side" may be manifested in a wealth of images. The image of "wilderness" is fundamental. Remember that Hanzel and Gretel were led "into the woods" and were trapped. Knights discover dragons, ogres, and thieves in the woods. Robin Hood is at home in the wild. The image may be that of the mob and its underworld, an urban equivalent in which "Pretty Boy" Floyd is a hero. There is always "the concrete jungle." Dragons sail the sea, "the watery wilderness." Jesus and John the Baptist met God "in the wilderness," as did Israel at Sinai. The Shadow is the easiest of the archetypes for most persons to experience. We tend to see it in "others." That is to say, we project our dark side onto others and thus interpret them as "enemies" or as "exotic" presences that fascinate. We see the Shadow everywhere in popular culture. He is Batman. She is Spider Woman. It is the Ninja Turtles. We see it in popular prejudice as well. We "imagine" that the Black Man is our enemy; that Communists are devils. We incline towards Hawaii as the "land of paradise." We accept people uncritically if we perceive them as "Fair Haired." Of course, Satan is the great Shadow image of popular religion (Consider: the word only occurs 54 times in the entire Bible.) The Shadow is the personification of that part of human, psychic possibility that we deny in ourselves and project onto others. The goal of personality integration is to integrate the rejected, inferior side of our life into our total experience and to take responsibility for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Anima Or Animus The second most prevalent potential patterning is that of the Soul (Anima is the male name for soul; Animus is the female name for soul). Here we meet our inner opposite. Males meet their Anima; females their Animus. The Anima may appear as an exotic dancing girl or a weathered old hag--the form generally reflects either the condition or the needs of our soul presently. Remember the wicked witch encountered by Hanzel and Gretel. The Animus may appear as an exotic, sensual, young man or as an old grouch. Remember the Great Oz who ran the Emerald City? There is always Simon Legree who took in Little Eva. Consider Super Man and Lois Lane. Clark Kent is the inferior, shadow side of Super Man, but he is also closer to ordinary people. Lois Lane has no interest in Clark. She is infatuated with Super Man, her Animus; the masculine completion of her personality. Wonder Woman offers us an example of the Anima in action.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Syzygy (Divine Couple) If one comes to terms with the Shadow and the Soul, one will encounter the enchanted castle with its King and Queen. This is a pattern of wholeness and integration. The opposites of the outer and the inner life are now joined in marriage. Great power arises from this integration. Christ and the Church, God and Israel are syzygy images. The believer who aspires to be the "bride of Christ" is modeling his or her experience in response to the syzygy archetype.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Child The Child Archetype is a pattern related to the hope and promise for new beginnings. It promises that Paradise can be regained. Child images like the New Year's Babe obviously derive from this archetype. So do the golden ring and the golden ball and most flower and circle related images. The birth of the Christ Child who unites Heaven and Earth, Man and God, is a powerful archetypal event. Were the life of Jesus not interpreted by this archetype, it would lose most of its meaning. Jesus would just be one more teacher from the Hellenistic world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Self The ultimate pattern is the Self. For Jung this is the God image. Human self and divine self are incapable of distinction. All is Spirit. Images of Spirit abound. Wind and breath being two very common ones. The Spirit descends as a Dove upon Jesus in the wilderness. The voice declares to him his true nature: "Your are my Son, my Beloved." This is an archetypal drama of the Self. Galahad achieving the Grail and ascending with it to Heaven is likewise an archetypal drama of Self. Lancelot's failure to achieve the Grail speaks of his failure to achieve the final discovery of Self. Chariots and cars point in this direction. Remember the death car which comes in Darby O'Gill and the Little People? Enoch is taken up in a chariot of fire. Ezekiel Chapter One describes the chariot conveying God into the world.

However, these archetypes are only the beginning of character
creation...

...Now to delve further into the story archetypes that ultimately have a
hand in the character creation process.

The Syzygy

The whole made up, not of two opposing parts, but two complementary
parts. An example of this in a story form would be the wonder twin. Yes,
it's a bad example to use, but it does work in theory. While Zan and
Janya were 'twins', they were seperate and had their own identities, but
worked best with each other. And while Zan's power was lame, it always
worked to their benefit; in fact, they couldn't use their powers without
one another.

The Child

The child is not what you'd think originally. It is not the Peter Pan
syndrome. That would be the Puer Aeternus. Or the Eternal Boy. The child
is actually a figure that is taken and gives advice in an adult like
manner, despite an appearance of youth or stupidity. An example would be
Stewie from Family Guy, or the Rain Man.

The Hero
The Hero. In their own story, everyone is the Hero. In a roleplay
scenario, each character is the Hero of their own personal story,
whether they are the Hero or not of the Roleplay. This is the
identifier. The Roleplayer is the Hero, and therefore from the point of
view of the roleplayer, everything happens and centers around
themselves.

To other Roleplayers with whom they play, they may seem as one of the
other archetypes, this sense of self never leaves the 'Hero's identity.
Without this sense of "I'm the story", there becomes no point to the
roleplay, and defeats itself.

This however is also the reason for a lot of Mary Sues. Because of this
sense of overall important-ness, a lot of roleplayers make their
character more and more powerful, more and more unique in order to make
their characters and therefore themselves more important.

You can go too far in this however, and this is the Anti Mary Sue...

More to Come...

The Great Mother
The Wise old man
The Trickster or Ape
The Puer Aeternus
The Cosmic Man
The artist-scientist