MUSHy Musings

In very broad terms there are two kinds of player characters on MUSHes. The lines between them are very blurry. There are some characters who skirt that line, or hop back and forth between them, but most people will acknowledge that there are two poles on the mass of possible characters: Heroes and Villains.

Now this being said, there are some things which need to be clarified, it seems, because lots of hero players have no idea what that means, and lots of villain players seem to miss the entire point of the villain role. So let's get some rules across for role-playing heroes and villains in ways that make for enjoyable and memorable play.

Both

Play to create memorable scenes and stories, not to 'win'. If you're concerned with 'winning' perhaps you should look into wargaming as a hobby, not a form of cooperative story-telling. Your focus in a MUSH's RP is to generate fun for everyone (yourself included).

To avoid bad blood, keep your OOC communications clear and friendly. You can joke around in-voice, sure. But make sure that people understand that it's badinage, not your serious viewpoint. Tone, in particular, is very easy to misinterpret in written communication.

Play characters who are either sufficiently flexible to be able to go in a variety of scenes, or, especially in the case of villains, characters who can bring clouds of mooks and flunkies into the scene while standing at the back, rubbing their hands like Mr. Burns.

Loners make for interesting written stories. They suck in collaborative ventures. Make your characters have a reason to be around other characters. Or, alternatively, learn to write fiction and get published. There's money in it that way. (Not a lot of money, true, but still...)

Heroes

You will not always win the day. Not every scene will have you leaving it ahead of the game. Indeed, you shouldn't always win! Most memorable stories of heroes have the hero face a danger, get trounced by said danger (thus giving the hero stakes in the fight and also illustrating the extent of said danger!), and then finally come out victorious in the end. In the classic “three-act structure” that informs so much of popular media, you'll note that the hero is on their back foot for most of the story. To tell a good story as a hero you need to lose more than you win! It's just that the final victory is yours.

Sometimes you will have to team up with perceived (or actual) villains. This is a trope as old as time: enemies that band together, ceasing hostilities, to face a greater mutual threat. You can't do that if you burn all bridges with your villains. (Or if you kill them.)

In long-running stories (like comic books or novel series) it's traditional for villains to get away in the end, set back in their dastardly plans, but still out there to cause trouble. Ride with it. It means you'll have more fun in the future.

Villains

You exist to lose, most times. Look again at the three-act structure referenced in the Heroes section. Yes, for most of the structure, the protagonists are at a disadvantage, on their back feet, and getting trounced by antagonist forces. But in the third act, when the climax arrives, the heroes win, not the villain most times. So what's the point of playing if you're always going to lose? Well, first, you're not going to lose always. You're going to win more times than you lose, in fact. You'll just wind up thwarted in the end. Which is what your role is in most stories: the overwhelming power who gets thwarted in the end. To play a villain properly you have to relax and learn to appreciate the ride, despite knowing the destination in advance.

One-note villains are boring. Complex villains with understandable motivations, even if the outcomes are reprehensible, are interesting. Villains, however, who are right from heroes' standpoints but must still be resisted are the ones that stay alive in memory. Don't play your villains one-note. Good villains are people and have all the foibles and complexity of real people.

The elephant in the room

Whether you're playing a hero or a villain, it is absolutely important to remember that the person on the other end of the screen from you is just that: a person. And even more importantly, it is important to remember that said person is not the same as the character they play. If the villain does something bad, that doesn't make the player of that villain bad. If the hero thwarts your villainous plan, that doesn't mean the player of the hero is trying to ruin your fun.

This is why OOC communication is so important. It's easy to become attached to characters; OOC communication can bring with it that perspective change you need to distance yourself from real-world anger at in-game actions. It's easy to misconstrue the actions of your counterparts (hero and villain both) as deliberate attempts to ruin your fun; nine times out of ten this is not the case, and OOC communication again can help you figure this out.

Remember that in a MUSH players work together to tell a fun story, even if the characters are in conflict.