How to Post Without Wyrming

Wyrming (as we all know) is the act of making assumptions about things outside your PC's control. The rule against Wyrming is, perhaps, our single most important rule here in Telgard. As such, Wyrming is a subject of concern to many of our new players.

Some new players express a fear of getting themselves into trouble by Wyrming accidentally. While some moderators are more concerned about Wyrming than others, the general rule of thumb is, if you aren't manipulating events to give your character an advantage, you're alright. You won't get your character in serious trouble unless your Wyrming is deliberate and repeated.

However, you should try never to forget that other PCs, NPCs, and the game's environment (including the effects of your PC's attempted actions) are outside of your control. So... does this mean that as a player, you will be limited to writing short posts, since your PC is the only thing you control? Absolutely not!

For example: there really is no way for your PC to hold a conversation with an NPC without pausing frequently so that your mod can provide the NPC's responses. That's why conversation-posts tend to be shorter than most.

But if you feel a need to write a lot in your posts, you might do what I do for my PC: describe his internal monologue. Even if your character says only a couple of things, presumably there's a lot more going on in his head than what gets out of his mouth.

For example:

Johny PC: "Hey, Sally. What are you doing tonight?"

That there would be the stripped-down version. Johny's player doesn't know what Sally is going to say. He has to wait for the mod to post with Sally's reply. Or...

Johny PC: "Hey, Sally. What are you doing tonight?" Yeah, that was pretty smooth. Or wait... was I too obvious? I don't want her thinking I'm desperate. Johny PC started to sweat. Oh, geez. What if Sally said she was busy? What if she said she was washing her hair? No! That thought was too awful even to consider. Because the truth was, Johny had been pining for Sally NPC for the last ten years. He couldn't bear it if he found out she didn't return his affection. She probably thinks I'm an idiot. Look at her, just standing there and staring at me. Why won't she say something? Argh! She was going to laugh in his face for sure. Johny PC would be the laughingstock of the entire village. He'd have to move all the way to Mirg to escape this humiliation! He just knew it!

See, even if the mod says Sally answered instantly and wasn't staring at all, Johny PC can think she was staring. And the split second before Sally answered might very well be a subjective eternity for him. Anything your character thinks, feels, believes, wants, hopes, etc. is entirely up to you. Things might not turn out like your PC thinks they will, but that's half the fun.

Your PC's responses to other events in your thread can be elaborated on in much the same way. Suppose, for example, that there's a bar-fight. You want your PC to run for the door, get on his horse, and flee town. You can't really post anything beyond running for the door, since your mod has to decide if you'll make it. But you can spend a lot of time explaining your character's reaction. Was he surprised when the fight began? Why did he run? What was he thinking? What if someone gets in his way? Does this remind him of any other fights he's seen?

There's actually quite a lot that a PC can do, without coming anywhere even vaguely near Wyrming. Even the simplest action on your character's part can have a whole lot of thinking and planning behind it. Remember, as well, that there's no limit to what your character can try to do! The more proactive your PC is, the more detail your mod can put into his or her own posts.

-GM Godot


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