From: pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au (...sage)
Date: 2 Sep 1994 12:20:38 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: ADMIN: MiniFAQ : New users please read

MINI-FAQ - last updated 22-Aug-94
______________________________________________________________________________
[ This is not the FAQ, nor is it meant to replace the FAQ. This is a miniFAQ ]
[ which has been designed as a short intro to the Inn and a pointer to other ]
[ sources of info, particulary the FAQ, and with answering common questions  ]
[ from people who are new to the Inn. This post is NOT exhaustive, so please ]
[ read the FAQ or email one of the people at the end of this article if you  ]
[ have any further questions not answered here before posting a query.       ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The FAQ is posted regularly and is available from The Dreamer 
<ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu> and myself. Most of the below is knobbled from the FAQ.

*** Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn is not a game. It never has been, and never will
    (to my knowledge). It follows no system of gaming rules, nor does it 
    promote any gaming system. There is no referee (apart from group 
    consensus) and no computer program maintaining this world (as is the
    case in a MUD [multi-user dungeon]). The various ADMIN articles are an
    attempt to draw together accumulated group knowledge and experience to
    reduce inconsistencies, and ease new users into a growingly complex
    fantasy environment.

Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn (a.p.d-i) exists for 'on the net' Roleplaying, and as an 
interactive forum for story telling and for character and plot generation.
The news group is to log the activities of characters in the pub called the
"Dragon Inn", in the city of Generica, and its immediate surroundings.
There is no Game Master/Dungeon Master, all activites within the inn are
determined by the players themselves.  In many ways the inn is not so
much a process of role playing, but mass co-authorship. :)

To keep the group running successfully, the following courtesy rules apply:
1) No flaming.  -> use alt.flame
2) NO VIOLENCE IN THE DRAGON'S INN - anywhere else - fine, but within the
   actual Inn, NO VIOLENCE AT ALL!!!!!!  (this one gets SEVERELY stomped on)
3) No commercials or FRPG talk -> use the rec.games.frp.X groups 
4) The Right to Non-Interference. -> see the FAQ on ettiquette
5) No munchkins :  a.p.d-i is not a competitive setting.
   ultra powerful characters are not encouraged, and may not be
   "accepted" by other people as "the sort we want to hang out with".
 
** 1 ** Introducing a Character:
 
There are no hard and fast rules, basically how, where and why are up to you.
Pre-organization by E-Mail so that your character knows a familiar face is
recommended.  It allows your character to slide in without the embarrasement
of loitering around waiting for a friendly call, or dying unnoticed.

Once the character is introduced there are several people who should be informed
by E-Mail.  In particular. Mike Bavister and Spider Boardman, who are
maintaining a list of characters and character descriptions (see below).
These lists give an idea of who is in the inn, and a brief description.

Due to the popularity of the group there are a large number of postings.
Unfortunately this makes it difficult to keep up with the group for those with
limited time. To eliminate extraneous volume, please try not to post questions
to the group, use E-Mail if at all possible.  A list of some of people happy to
answer email questions about the Inn appears at the end of this post.

** 2 ** posting format

Several guidelines have been adopted to help clarify subject content and 
eliminate the need to read every posting. For courtesy's sake please follow them

Subject line format:
  [thread] character : description                      or 
  character : description       (if not in a thread)    or
  ADMIN : description           (for non-character postings/administrivia)

Ongoing 'adventures', or threads, use a [name] notation to identify themselves.
[INN] is reserved for actions within the Dragon's Inn itself.

(A) Threads are defined as stories, written by one or more authors, with a plot
and action that follows a well-defined single path.  Examples could be a
shared-author series of stories, a single story seen from several characters'
viewpoints, or several individual stories with some binding element.  For the
sake of clarity, threads are marked with a several-character identifier within
brackets.  Examples: [KQ] or [blade].  These identifiers must be kept short,
since they ought to be included in the header of every article pertaining to
a particular thread.  This is not an iron-clad requirement or rule of this
newsgroup; rather, it is a kind of courtesy rule that helps your screaming
fans follow the action of your story.  :^)

Forming your own thread is quite easy.  All you have to do is collect a group
of individuals who want to write the thread with you, and then start posting
articles with an appropriate thread identifier.  You do not have to 'get
permission' from anybody or register your thread.  However, you should be
careful to make sure that your identifier is unique so that two threads'
stories do not appear to be one large and cryptic tale. A service also exists
to keep those with limited reading time informed of what is happening in your
thread, or to your character (contact Mike Sander if you want to be
included in the weekly review (see below for details))

Joining another thread already in progress is another matter.  Usually, people
who have gone to the effort to create a thread have a particular story in mind,
including a set of events that may or may not allow for interaction with more
characters (ie. yours!)  Some people, of course, do not mind new characters
springing in and posting under their thread's identifier with no warning.
However, to make sure that you step on no toes, it is always best to check
beforehand with people by emailing them.  Just select at random some member
of an ongoing thread that you wish to join, and send them a note telling them
1) who you are, 2) what you want to do, and 3) would they please be good enough
to include you in the action.  Most threads will probably be open enough to
let you in -- this group is no place for snobbery! -- but just for the sake
of politeness, it cannot hurt you to check first.

(B) Any administrative postings should be prefixed by 'ADMIN:'.  ADMIN postings
contain all information which is not in character for the PC.  In many respects
ADMIN postings have the sort of information a DM would distribute.
The only other messages which are typical of ADMIN postings are administrative
work, related to non character postings such as character lists, FAQ list and
other administrivia.

(C) Please try and avoid using reply to post articles, unless you can edit the
subject line. This will reduce some confusion. (nb. for some ADMIN this does not
 apply. Please see the FAQ section on etiquette for other posting guidelines).
-=-=-=- 
Regularly posted ADMIN lists : see FAQ for other ADMIN lists

FAQ                         : The Dreamer <ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
MiniFAQ (this article)	    : P. Calvert <pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au>
Official Book of Guests     : M. Bavister <mrhyde@netcom.com>
Character Summaries List    : S. Boardman <spider@orb.nashua.nh.us>
Tourists Guide to Generica  : B. Rudnick <rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu>
Bulletin Board		    : P. Calvert <pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au>
This Week in Review         : M. Sander <344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu>
Atlas of the Known Lands    : P. Calvert <pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au>
Mage Guild FAQ              : Kelly J. Cooper <kjc@asylum.sf.ca.us>
-=-=-=-
The following people have volunteered to answer further questions
about the group via e-mail. Please mail one of them before posting a query.
 
Spider Boardman    <spider@orb.nashua.nh.us>
Sean A Reith       <gusar@uniwa.uwa.edu.au>
Mike Bavister      <mrhyde@netcom.com>
Michael Sander     <344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu>
Dennis Brennan     <djb6@midway.uchicago.edu>
Pete Calvert       <pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au>
Bret Rudnick	   <rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu>
Kelly J. Cooper    <kjc@asylum.sf.ca.us>

						compiled by ...sage
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
 Pete Calvert : Department of Commerce: Adelaide University, South Australia
        email : pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- another page from ...sage -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



