Garry's Mod Serious Roleplay Guide

Introduction

Welcome to the Introduction

This guide was created and formed by Arbiter/Jax (Myself) with influence from Loz and SovietSeagull. This guide is to be taken completely seriously, and is meant for new players in the roleplay genre. This guide does not cover the area of DarkRP or DRP. Several different kinds of roleplay on Garry's Mod are for example:

• Half Life 2 City RP
  
• Half Life 2 Outlands RP
  
• Half Life 2 Coast RP
  
• 1942 RP
  
• Star Wars: Clone Wars RP
  
• Fallout RP
  
• Halo RP
  
• Wasteland RP
  
• Infection RP, etc.

Note to server admins/owners:

It would be very much appreciated if you direct your new players who are not fluent in the form of RP to this guide.

Starting Out

Make sure to download all server content, which you can usually find by contacting the owner. Most content resides inside of a collection created by the owner, so you can usually just search the community's name or abbreviation under Workshop collections. When you first join a Serious Roleplay server you will most likely encounter a questionnaire or mini quiz regarding roleplaying expectations after a 2-7 minutes join time depending on your computer speed, internet speed, and server capacity (addons, players, and the amount of RAM on the server). Answering as truthfully/accurately as possible is important, because the far majority of Clockwork servers are made to boot players who get even a single question wrong. This will result in you having to rejoin the server again. Don't worry, they won't ask anything personal.

Upon joining, you will be prompted with a simple main menu. The menu will vary depending on the owner's preference or the RP platform (Nutscript, Clockwork etc.) The appropriate main menu typically consists of;

• New Character
  
• Load Character
  
• Settings
  
• Leave Game

These buttons are straightforward and perform what they are meant to. New Character will prompt you to begin a character creation screen. (See: "New Character")

Load character will bring up another GUI (Graphical User Interface), or in other words, another screen. The Load screen will display all of your previously created characters. Keep in mind that there is no feature for saving, and therefore, saving is not required for roleplay.

Settings will display another screen that will list several changeable user preferences such as camera distance, the third person option, HUD options, and more.

Leave game does the obvious. Upon clicking it, you will be returned to the Main Menu of Garry's Mod.

Creating a Character

After selecting the 'New Character' option of the Clockwork menu, a screen will prompt for you, showing you your basic character options, being:

Whitelists

• Character Whitelist [See: Whitelists]

Character Basics

• Character Name
  
• Character Gender
  
• Physical Description
  
• Player Model

These options will be the main thing about your player, viewable by everyone else in the game world. Looking at someone's character will display their name, (Only if the character you're looking at knows you. See: Entering the In-Game World) character description, and whether or not you recognize them. You will be able to see their 3D world model otherwise known as a playermodel or character model. Your character description should look something like this:

" 6'2" / African-American / Bold Facial Structure / Rough, Tattered Jeans / 5 O'Clock Shadow / Vibrant Green Eyes / Matted Grey Hair / AK-74U Slung Over Left Shoulder / Rusted Police Office Badge "


Character Attributes

• Strength - How much your character can carry / Strength of your character's punches
  
• Endurance - How much damage your character can take / Body build
  
• Stamina - How long your character can run for
  
• Dexterity - How fast you can tie/untie someone
  
• Agility - How fast you can run
  
• Medical - How skilled you are in medical application
  
• Acrobatics - How high your character can jump (It's recommended you have at least two points in this)

These attributes are what give your character advantages over other players in certain aspects. It is highly advised that you do not pour all of your attribute points in one skill. Doing that is typically frowned upon and is referred to as 'stat-whoring'. This will also make it very difficult for you to gain alternative attributes later on.

*Additional Character Attributes*

• Cooking - How certified you are in cooking skills
  
• Crafting - How efficient and skilled you are in the art of crafting
  
• Salvaging - How efficient your character is at breaking down materials

Although some servers may not have these, the ones that do typically have a very good reason for having them. They may unlock new recipes, increase your efficiency with the skill, or significantly increase the effect of it. It is advised to have atleast 3-4 skill points invested in these specific attributes. However, it is up to you on how you want your character to be.

Entering the In-Game World & Commands

Upon Spawn

After you've created your character with it's own unique name and description, you and your character will spawn into the game world. Upon spawning, you will notice several GUI's on your Heads Up Display (HUD). This HUD will display your health, stamina, and occasionally in-game time. Your stamina will only appear after you have jogged or ran for a significant amount of time. You can maneuver your character using the W, A, S, D or arrow keys. If you do not like the current controls layout that the game sets as your default, you can modify it by pressing Esc and going to Options. If you are experiencing strong lag or an uncomfortable Frames Per Second (FPS)/Frame Rate (FR) then you may lower the graphics strength in Garry's Mod's options. Doing this will severely lower the lag, and increase game-play performance if you are still able to retain your enjoyment of the game with low settings.

The Ropes

After you've optimized your game for the best game-play experience, you're ready to get out and start role-playing. There are two basic ways to let your character act out with select commands. To activate a command, click Y, or whatever your text key is to prompt your text box. Commands listed below.

• /me - This command is used to describe an action your character is doing. All /me's are placed in third person. Ex. " /me kneels down onto the concrete, running his grubby fingers over the abandoned, moldy burger sitting on the road. " This will display as "***Ruben Falcoy kneels down onto the concrete, running his grubby fingers over the abandoned, moldy burger sitting on the road."
  
  
• /y - This will allow your character to yell. Yelling gives a distance boost to who can hear your voice text in game. Ex. "/y Thomas, you forgot to put cheese on this damn burger again!"
  
  
• /w This will allow your character to whisper. Whispering will limit the range drastically on who can hear what you say. A character will have to be right next to you to hear this. Ex. "/w Hey, Ruben, did you know that green is the new purple?"
  
  
• /anim(action) - This command will perform a action that your 3D character will show to others, such as sitting or threatening. Ex. /animidle will make your character perform a permanent idle stance and put your camera into third person until you decide to move. /animlean will allow the character's 3D playermodel to lean against a wall of sorts, however you must be facing away from a wall. It is recommended that you string your /me's and your /anim's together to make it look more professional.
  
  
• /charfallover - This command will force your character to fall over and go into ragdoll mode. You will be unable to move when in ragdoll mode, however, you will still be able to look about in first person albeit an awkward position. Using this command is recommended when you have been injured and/or someone is dragging you along. When someone is in ragdoll mode, you can use your Right Mouse Button (RMB) to pick them up. Press the Space key to get back onto your feet. If you are playing a NutScript server, you will have to type "/charfallover 0" to stay fallen over, otherwise you will be forced back onto your feet.
  
  
• /pm - This command is used when you would like to privately message a player on the server you're on in Out Of Character (OOC). This means that when you PM someone, you are speaking unrelated to the RP, or OOC. Simply type the player's in-character name and then your message. Make sure to only use their first name, because PM's do not include spaces in character's names. As long as you type one unique part of their character's name, it will send to them.
  Ex. "/pm Banders Don't mess with the tunnel snakes."
  
  
• .// - This command will allow you to speak locally out of character (LOOC). .// is the way many classical Clockworks use LOOC, however two left square brackets instead of the period slash slash works just as well. This is used for when you would like to communicate out-of-IC (In-Character) or OOC to those in a general range around you. You must make sure to speak with this when speaking out of character.
  
  
• // - This command will allow you to speak globally to the entire server in OOC. Typically, servers have a Global OOC cooldown ranging anywhere from 5 to 90 seconds to reduce spam, so it would be wise to speak intelligently and with meaning in OOC.
  
  
• @ - This command will allow you to report an issue or call an admin. Anyone that is staff on the server will see your message.
  
  
• /it - This command will allow you to describe something out of your character but IC. Ex: "/it The pop can falls over after a small gust of wind."
  
  

  Basic RP Admin Commands

  
  
• /event - This command is very similar to the '/it' command, however, only staff members of a server can use this and it is displayed globally, in orange.
  
  
• /plywhitelist - This command is used for the whitelisting of players to a certain faction after the approval of their application, be it IC or OOC, and should be typed as such: '/plywhitelist [PlayerName] [Faction]'
  
  
• /charsetcustomclass - This command can also be used by clicking the player's portrait in the leaderboards, but is used for displaying a certain player's class to a custom text such as 'Event Character', or 'Rogue Military Suvivors' as opposed to normal military whitelist. It should be typed as: '/charsetcustomclass [PlayerName] [CustomFaction/Class]

Role-Play Vocabulary

Introduction

This section of the guide will explain to you everything you need to know about vocabulary on role-play servers so you can understand everything that people say. When you first join a server, players will say things that may seem like gibberish, and acronyms that you will not understand. This will reveal all.

Vocabulary

• Void - This term is used by several players and may be one of the most handy and ruthless tools in roleplay. When players use this term, in OOC of course, it lets others know that they are disregarding a situation or typo, and lets others know to disregard it too.
  
  
• Minge - This is a term used by players and admins to label or name an incompetent or unintelligent player. Types of people that are commonly given this name are trolls, newbies, squeakers/younglings, or just plain unintelligent people. Minges are also known for not knowing how to properly RP.
  
  
• Metagaming - This is a term that many new players are baffled and/or confused by, but it is really quite simple. Metagaming is the act of sharing in-character information
  
  
• Webuls - A common term used by players to refer to players who plays as a resistance of sorts in several schemas, most commonly seen and used in Half-Life 2 Roleplay.

Whitelists

Introduction

Whitelists are auths given to players upon applying for them upon the community's local forum or site in particular for a certain faction. Typically, you can either apply IC by talking to the leader of the faction you'd like a whitelist for, or by writing an application on the community's forums as previously stated. Several applyable whitelist classes in general for most servers are for things such as:

• Military/Soldiers
  
• Special Class
  
• Event Characters
  
• Separate Species
  
  • Or anything that requires specific roleplay skills or experience.
  
  

  Application Formats

  
  Most applications will look generally similar from each community or server you travel to through your search for roleplay, however, several things are mandatory and must be filled out on the application.
  
  
  • Steam ID - A steam ID is your account identification number given uniquely to each individual player. Not any one player will have an identical ID. This is how people can easily find you on steam, in this case, the server owner.
    
    
  • What you're applying for - Easily said as done. Explain in a long sentence as to what you're applying for.
    
    
  • A couple/few paragraphs for your character's backstory - This is almost ALWAYS required in a player's application, showing the admins that he can properly roleplay the character or class he is applying for. Backstories are usually written from birth to present. Write this in a third person aspect. Ex. "Aaron Dempse was conceived by his mother in the year of 2558 shortly after the Covenant war had ended in Farfeis city hospital upon the planet of Earth."
  
  
  
  

Weapons & Character Expectation

Introduction

This chapter of the guide will explain the way your characters should act and what is expected of your character. It will also feature a short note of weaponry and how it should be used.

Weaponry

To start, there are many types of personalities you can choose or even create for your character, where one character may be a civilian that is very large but somewhat unintelligent, and another may be in the military, small build, and quite intelligent. Chances are that the military member with the small build and that is quite intelligent will be able to proficiently operate a firearm much better than the civilian with the heavy build. Whereas if they were operating a melee weapon, chances are that the heavy built man would be able to take down the military man, assuming he is not wearing additional armor. The casual weapons as listed below are:

• Assault Rifles
  
• Submachine Guns
  
• Shotguns
  
• Sniper Rifles
  
• Bolt-Action Rifles
  
• Missile/Rocket Launchers
  
• Select Fire Rifles
  
• Handguns
  
• Energy Weapons
  
  • And other
  
  

  Fear Roleplay

  
  Fear Roleplay is an essential part of roleplay that is often smiled upon by admins. Showing that you are capable of Fear Roleplay will increase your chances of gaining a special whitelist as well. Fear Roleplay is when you operate your character with a fearful or terrified personality during and mentally scarring of physically painful situation [See: Pain Roleplay]. A good example of Fear Roleplay is ex. "** Michael Quinton would shake uncontrollably with fear, making no attempt to silence his quivering mumbling as he would hear the enemy's stomping footsteps come closer." Things that may cause Fear Roleplay are;
  
  
  • Personal fears
    
  • Torture
    
  • Firefights
    
  • Gunshots
    
  • Threats
    
  • Enemy factions
  
  

  Pain Roleplay

  
  Pain Roleplay is an absolutely necessary element of roleplay that all roleplayers must learn to perform. Using pain roleplay without complaining out of character about your character's suffering and/or death is a bright light to an admin saying, "This guy is a good roleplayer. If he keeps it up, I should reward him." Pain Roleplay is the act of performing '/me's of pain that is inflicted upon your character such as;
  
  
  • Heavy cuts
    
  • Lacerations
    
  • Burns
    
  • Gunshot wounds
    
  • Energy burns
    
  • Corrosive chemicals
    
  • Blunt trauma
    
  • Impalement
  
  

  Play to Lose

  
  Play to Lose is a decision system that some experienced roleplayers use as it may improve roleplay realism or accuracy. As explained before in vocabulary, play to lose is where your character decisions are formed upon common sense and character mutuality. Let's say that a heavy built man with bulky fists was put up against a scrawny, malnourished man. It would look something like this. Ex.
  
  "** Jerrald Terrinson steps forth and swings an unexpected punch at the man, attempting to smash his fist into his jaw."
  
  ** Ander Filse is smashed in the jaw by the unexpected punch, flailing backwards onto the couch behind him, laying limp, having been knocked unconscious.
  

Administration

This section is intended and dedicated to those who are planning on pursuing staff positions on servers and/or are currently staff in a server. This part of the guide will cover (mostly) everything you need to know about administrating a Clockwork Serious Roleplay server. Many new staff members are often left in awe at the wide variety of options that are given to them with the server-side rank and need help understanding. Others may be used to using other roleplay platforms such as Nutscript, LiquidRP, etcetera.

Basic Administrative Commands

There is a large variety of commands at an admin's disposal, and even more once they begin climbing up the ranks. However, one thing that an admin should keep in mind is that being an administrator is a responsibility rather than a privilege. You should never abuse admin commands unless given express permission by your employer / owner and should not perform commands that you do not know how to use, such as plugin commands. Some commands allow you to use a player's SteamID rather than their character name, which makes it easy to ensure that you're bestowing punishment on the right person, or gives you the chance to ban people that may be offline or not currently on the server. This[steamidfinder.com] is a reputable site that can be used to find one's SteamID. All you have to do is go to the selected player's profile, copy their profile link, and insert it into the text box on that website. Many commands can be added into the Clockwork framework. Commands below.

Command	Variable #1	Variable #2	Variable #3	Rank Required	Command Description
[/plywarn]	[Player's character name]	[Warn message]	[N/A]	[Operator]	plywarn is used to broadcast a message to a specific player that may be doing something unapproved. It's a command that some admins are quick to forget about, but has a strong use. This command will display any message you send to that specific user.[/tr] /plykick [Player's character name (or steamID)[/td] [Reason why] [N/A] [Operator] plykick is used for kicking unwanted players that may be breaking the rules or disrupting roleplay. It's suggested that you give a warning before a kick so that they know they are doing wrong and are given a chance to correct it. [/tr] [/plyban] [Player's character name (or SteamID)] [Length time of ban (in minutes)] [Reason why] [Admin] plyban is used to ban players from the server that may not be following the rules or may be harassing others. If you are intended on permanently banning the player, rather than typing an absurd amount of numbers into the length variable, simply type 0 and it will set the ban as a permanent one. [/plyteleport] [Player's character name (or SteamID)] [N/A] [N/A] [Operator] plyteleport (or sometimes plytp) is a command used to teleport players to your cursor location. Wherever you're pointing on the map will be where the player will teleport when the command is used. This is a handy command often used for getting people out of stuck positions that they could otherwise not get out of themselves. It can also be used to isolate 'minges' from the rest of the playerbase.

Conclusion

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who has ever taught me how to roleplay and to thank everyone who's inspired me to create this guide. This guide honestly took me about 30 half-assed classes to create, and I'm glad I'm finally finished.

Special thanks to:

Loz,
Soviet_Seagull

[idiot 3 alt (6)]

https://youtu.be/DdmNYNkcwKE

[215cm Tall Femboy's Cutie]

Any answers how to pass Limefruit Black Mesa Quiz?

[Professional Idiot]

Thanks :)

[GL1TCH]

Ok thank you, and nice guide btw. It really looks like you put a lot of effort into it to try to help others.

[Professional Idiot]

No, this is only for use in the Clockwork gamemode.

[GL1TCH]

Ok dumb question, but can any of those commands be used in Single-player Sandbox?

[Professional Idiot]

Thanks.

[Pikman]

Well done!

[SureShot]

Thank you, now I can be less of a pleb on your server.

[Professional Idiot]

thanks.