Robert
British Swan
Staff Member
Server Council
Developer
Galunga Prince
Content Creator
Creative Team
Welcome to a quick introductory guide to Shoot To Roleplay, also known simply as S2RP.
This is a system Willard V3 will be switching to, and for those taking part in the SS events, some of them will strictly run on S2RP-based systems with only light S2K. Many in the HL2RP community have no idea how S2RP works because it was only something that RP veterans understood and used. It was one of the RP systems made back in the Early RP days and was widely used up until around 2017 when there was a big push towards more S2K based systems as people slowly got bored of the idea of S2RP and too many came in not understanding what S2RP is.
DISCLAIMER (NEW EDIT):
No, this post is not stating in full that V3 will be 100% S2RP. Because both the TBC system and S2K systems will still be present and in use from time to time. As for TBRP, that is a system that is being developed to crush the fears of impossible to moderate S2RP, which yes, was one of its old-day issues among its ability to quickly become chaotic.
I do believe players will also have a choice, and what systems you use will be circumstantial.
What is S2RP?
Shoot to Roleplay is a system where your Combat, whether ranged or melee, is done via the use of the many RP systems around you. Instead of holding the left mouse button and running around like you're playing a standard FPS, you voluntarily stand still as you perform actions using /me's. Think of combat, but it's slow-paced; shots are only done after 2 players take their actions/turns and generally operate on an order system. That is the most basic essence of what S2RP is.
Combat but in RP form rather than FPS form. Time scaling also becomes a crucial role in S2RP, where the time of combat MUST be taken into account.
How does it work on the most basic level?
To explain this in ordered bullet points:
1. S2RP can be engaged in melee, close or medium-ranged fights (Long range too, but we will get into this below) with any number of people.
- The more people, the more chaotic it does become. Keep this in mind.
2. When you start S2RP, everyone involved should be fairly ordered in the sense that you need to set up a system of who goes first, who goes next and who goes last.
- You don't need to stick to the order, as when S2RP kicks off, players can react to /me's as they see them one at a time. (Please read the FAQ below)
- Generally, the first person is the one who initiated the S2RP. The last is whoever is the least involved. The order should be done fairly to represent a perfect balance between both sides.
- Idea that is WIP: Rolling to gain the initiative in S2RP ordering rather than random ordering.
3. Each time it is your turn, you have an infinite amount of time to write your /me to explain your action.
- No, you cannot use this time to stall (See Moderation)
- Your action should be fair and never come across as powergame (See FAQ Below)
- Reactional /me's can be done outside of your turn as long as you are not taking action back towards your enemy.
4. Rolling should be fairly utilized when possible. We use rolls to dictate who wins over the other and how well a situation will play out.
- Rolls ARE NOT USED when a player takes a surprise action against you (See FAQ Below)
- Rolls must fit the scenario. (See FAQ Below)
5. Once you and your target have taken their /me's, you may shoot to represent the damage you have done and only to a limited extent. Don't try to kill your target in a single round unless explicitly given permission by the player.
6. Play 2 Lose (Explained in FAQ) may be enforced over rolls.
How is it moderated?
S2RP is probably one of the most painful systems for staff and players to moderate, but there is a few simple notes to take:
1. Don't stall - Stalling is the act of purposefully delaying actions to let time go by, and either have the intent to annoy or wait for friends and such to come online and reach nearby.
2. Powergaming is not allowed, so don't try to force an action on another unless given permission.
3. If the turns get confusing, this means that someone ended up breaking the chain. This is 99% of the time accidental, but not too hard to fix by retracing rp and getting the S2RP to stop for a moment.
4. Finally, never let S2RP become too chaotic. If S2RP gets out of hand, let people redo their /me's one by one and go from there. Some will try to jump their turn but can be spotted with a watchful eye.
FAQ:
A: What is Play To Lose?
Q: Play to lose is a system where you intentionally play on fair and even grounds. If an RP action is taken against you, you will purposefully let yourself lose against another player's action.
For example, Player A does an action to say they are charging me from my side with a knife. I have 2 ways to respond, I can either count them or let myself get stabbed in the side of the chest. In this case, I choose to lose because I view countering as unrealistic here, thus allowing myself to take a direct hit and fall to the floor in pain.
A: Someone is joining the fight late OR I am joining the fight late; what happens?
Q: In the event you join a fight late that is using S2RP, you must use timescale to account for the time lost. Meaning, you should tend to wait quite a bit of time before getting involved, the flow of S2RP will naturally let you know when it feels safe to join in. Typically after a few actions have been and gone.
A: Timescaling confuses me. How does it actually work?
Q: Time scaling confuses everyone; that is no lie. But the way to think of it is to say this:
Let's say Player A is retreating back a few steps. You decide you want to chase them and do your action to move up to them... but the problem is, you can't move wait as you need to wait for others to do their turn and account for how long it could take for your character to react to such a sudden movement. You may say: Oh, I could react in a few seconds, which is true, but based on the speed that person is moving may change how well you can actually catch up. Time scale plays in here and goes that they get to gain some reasonable second distance between themselves and you.
Time scaling, in the end, is hard to explain, but its a concept of trying to put into perspective what would happen under IRL circumstances if time froze anytime someone was choosing what to do next.
A: How do long-range fights work?
Q: They generally don't, but as said above, they can work. Just in this case it requires GMs to transmit the /me's between 2 users or using PM's to solve the issue instead.
A: What is Powergame?
Q: Powergame is the act of forcing one of your actions onto another user. Think of it as you charging at someone while at the same time in that action, you state you succeed in bumping into them without giving them a chance to react, roll or even have their own say in the outcome. Aka, actions, rolls and P2L state what terms you must follow, not yourself alone.
A: You said we don't need to follow the ordering; what does this mean?
Q: In the simplest way, S2RP doesn't just run on order alone, but rather reactions. Let's say you just had your turn where you shot at someone, but you see in the chat that someone else is about to open fire and aiming at your leg. You can now take a moment outside of your own turn to react to the situation you are being confronted with. Essentially starting a mini S2RP session within a larger S2RP session between yourself and another user.
In laymen's terms, reactionary /me's do not need to follow turn orders.
A: You mentioned surprise actions; what counts as a surprise?
Q: Simply: Actions you didn't expect. You are in combat with a player, focusing on them or maybe you're not in combat just wandering around. Suddenly, out of the blue, someone tackles you, jumps you or shoots at you, which you ICly did not realize was waiting for you there. This counts as a surprise and Play To Lose is automatically enforced where you will 100% lose the battle.
However, there are some cases which I will present in a video, where a surprise action is not always P2L due to meeting certain conditions. Conditions I cannot explain in text form properly without a visual showcase.
A: Rolls must fit the Scenario; what did you mean by this?
Q: Rolls are generally generic in S2RP and RP situations. However, in some cases, you will need to use specific roll types based on the situation. Are you in a fistfight? Use a strength or melee roll. Are you outsmarting each other? Use intelligence rolls. Are you trying to react quickly to someone's attack? Use agility/speed rolls. Etc.
Basically, if you encounter a situation where a specific skill is in use, then you need the respective roll to match.
A good example I saw today in the 2150 event was Player A charged Player B with a run, jump & strike attack. A sudden fast move which in the event was a superhuman action. Player A chose to fight and kill B before his attack could land. A had to roll speed because of reaction. B had to roll melee because of his attack type. They got equal matches and A won, but because they were near even, B fell on top of A, causing a few injuries.
A:
Video version of the S2RP Explanation and Examples - Not Available yet, WIP
This is a system Willard V3 will be switching to, and for those taking part in the SS events, some of them will strictly run on S2RP-based systems with only light S2K. Many in the HL2RP community have no idea how S2RP works because it was only something that RP veterans understood and used. It was one of the RP systems made back in the Early RP days and was widely used up until around 2017 when there was a big push towards more S2K based systems as people slowly got bored of the idea of S2RP and too many came in not understanding what S2RP is.
DISCLAIMER (NEW EDIT):
No, this post is not stating in full that V3 will be 100% S2RP. Because both the TBC system and S2K systems will still be present and in use from time to time. As for TBRP, that is a system that is being developed to crush the fears of impossible to moderate S2RP, which yes, was one of its old-day issues among its ability to quickly become chaotic.
I do believe players will also have a choice, and what systems you use will be circumstantial.
What is S2RP?
Shoot to Roleplay is a system where your Combat, whether ranged or melee, is done via the use of the many RP systems around you. Instead of holding the left mouse button and running around like you're playing a standard FPS, you voluntarily stand still as you perform actions using /me's. Think of combat, but it's slow-paced; shots are only done after 2 players take their actions/turns and generally operate on an order system. That is the most basic essence of what S2RP is.
Combat but in RP form rather than FPS form. Time scaling also becomes a crucial role in S2RP, where the time of combat MUST be taken into account.
How does it work on the most basic level?
To explain this in ordered bullet points:
1. S2RP can be engaged in melee, close or medium-ranged fights (Long range too, but we will get into this below) with any number of people.
- The more people, the more chaotic it does become. Keep this in mind.
2. When you start S2RP, everyone involved should be fairly ordered in the sense that you need to set up a system of who goes first, who goes next and who goes last.
- You don't need to stick to the order, as when S2RP kicks off, players can react to /me's as they see them one at a time. (Please read the FAQ below)
- Generally, the first person is the one who initiated the S2RP. The last is whoever is the least involved. The order should be done fairly to represent a perfect balance between both sides.
- Idea that is WIP: Rolling to gain the initiative in S2RP ordering rather than random ordering.
3. Each time it is your turn, you have an infinite amount of time to write your /me to explain your action.
- No, you cannot use this time to stall (See Moderation)
- Your action should be fair and never come across as powergame (See FAQ Below)
- Reactional /me's can be done outside of your turn as long as you are not taking action back towards your enemy.
4. Rolling should be fairly utilized when possible. We use rolls to dictate who wins over the other and how well a situation will play out.
- Rolls ARE NOT USED when a player takes a surprise action against you (See FAQ Below)
- Rolls must fit the scenario. (See FAQ Below)
5. Once you and your target have taken their /me's, you may shoot to represent the damage you have done and only to a limited extent. Don't try to kill your target in a single round unless explicitly given permission by the player.
6. Play 2 Lose (Explained in FAQ) may be enforced over rolls.
How is it moderated?
S2RP is probably one of the most painful systems for staff and players to moderate, but there is a few simple notes to take:
1. Don't stall - Stalling is the act of purposefully delaying actions to let time go by, and either have the intent to annoy or wait for friends and such to come online and reach nearby.
2. Powergaming is not allowed, so don't try to force an action on another unless given permission.
3. If the turns get confusing, this means that someone ended up breaking the chain. This is 99% of the time accidental, but not too hard to fix by retracing rp and getting the S2RP to stop for a moment.
4. Finally, never let S2RP become too chaotic. If S2RP gets out of hand, let people redo their /me's one by one and go from there. Some will try to jump their turn but can be spotted with a watchful eye.
FAQ:
A: What is Play To Lose?
Q: Play to lose is a system where you intentionally play on fair and even grounds. If an RP action is taken against you, you will purposefully let yourself lose against another player's action.
For example, Player A does an action to say they are charging me from my side with a knife. I have 2 ways to respond, I can either count them or let myself get stabbed in the side of the chest. In this case, I choose to lose because I view countering as unrealistic here, thus allowing myself to take a direct hit and fall to the floor in pain.
A: Someone is joining the fight late OR I am joining the fight late; what happens?
Q: In the event you join a fight late that is using S2RP, you must use timescale to account for the time lost. Meaning, you should tend to wait quite a bit of time before getting involved, the flow of S2RP will naturally let you know when it feels safe to join in. Typically after a few actions have been and gone.
A: Timescaling confuses me. How does it actually work?
Q: Time scaling confuses everyone; that is no lie. But the way to think of it is to say this:
Let's say Player A is retreating back a few steps. You decide you want to chase them and do your action to move up to them... but the problem is, you can't move wait as you need to wait for others to do their turn and account for how long it could take for your character to react to such a sudden movement. You may say: Oh, I could react in a few seconds, which is true, but based on the speed that person is moving may change how well you can actually catch up. Time scale plays in here and goes that they get to gain some reasonable second distance between themselves and you.
Time scaling, in the end, is hard to explain, but its a concept of trying to put into perspective what would happen under IRL circumstances if time froze anytime someone was choosing what to do next.
A: How do long-range fights work?
Q: They generally don't, but as said above, they can work. Just in this case it requires GMs to transmit the /me's between 2 users or using PM's to solve the issue instead.
A: What is Powergame?
Q: Powergame is the act of forcing one of your actions onto another user. Think of it as you charging at someone while at the same time in that action, you state you succeed in bumping into them without giving them a chance to react, roll or even have their own say in the outcome. Aka, actions, rolls and P2L state what terms you must follow, not yourself alone.
A: You said we don't need to follow the ordering; what does this mean?
Q: In the simplest way, S2RP doesn't just run on order alone, but rather reactions. Let's say you just had your turn where you shot at someone, but you see in the chat that someone else is about to open fire and aiming at your leg. You can now take a moment outside of your own turn to react to the situation you are being confronted with. Essentially starting a mini S2RP session within a larger S2RP session between yourself and another user.
In laymen's terms, reactionary /me's do not need to follow turn orders.
A: You mentioned surprise actions; what counts as a surprise?
Q: Simply: Actions you didn't expect. You are in combat with a player, focusing on them or maybe you're not in combat just wandering around. Suddenly, out of the blue, someone tackles you, jumps you or shoots at you, which you ICly did not realize was waiting for you there. This counts as a surprise and Play To Lose is automatically enforced where you will 100% lose the battle.
However, there are some cases which I will present in a video, where a surprise action is not always P2L due to meeting certain conditions. Conditions I cannot explain in text form properly without a visual showcase.
A: Rolls must fit the Scenario; what did you mean by this?
Q: Rolls are generally generic in S2RP and RP situations. However, in some cases, you will need to use specific roll types based on the situation. Are you in a fistfight? Use a strength or melee roll. Are you outsmarting each other? Use intelligence rolls. Are you trying to react quickly to someone's attack? Use agility/speed rolls. Etc.
Basically, if you encounter a situation where a specific skill is in use, then you need the respective roll to match.
A good example I saw today in the 2150 event was Player A charged Player B with a run, jump & strike attack. A sudden fast move which in the event was a superhuman action. Player A chose to fight and kill B before his attack could land. A had to roll speed because of reaction. B had to roll melee because of his attack type. They got equal matches and A won, but because they were near even, B fell on top of A, causing a few injuries.
A:
Video version of the S2RP Explanation and Examples - Not Available yet, WIP
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