Journal Entries

[Pieman]

The 'help journal' results are sorely lacking. My question is what information should we be putting in journals? I have a weird thing where I don't wanna waste the IMMs time so could we please get some direction for what to include and what exactly it should be?

Some examples would be like should it include what our character thinks about things like interactions pre/post pk fighting? Should it be just things we talked about with other characters through the day? Does it need to include the names of other characters?

I think some general direction for this function would be a huge help.

[Magick]

Yes.

 

The answer is vague, sure, but it does kind of need to be.  There are many ways to write your journal and for as many reasons.  Some of which you've included in your question.  You can do various styles, in various persons, first and third, for example.  It can be as succinct as you wish, or as verbose.

But that being said, you need to keep in mind that they're people, too.  I know you said much the same thing already, but an important thing to keep in mind.  All journals are read.  So keep it interesting and don't be frivolous.  Or at least not often.  Too much fluff too often and you very well could be penalized rather than rewarded.

I once wrote a song to the tune of Do You Want to Build a Snowman?  No particular reason other than it was running through my mind for a couple days.
Other times, I've pretty much detailed conversations I've had with other characters.  I like to name drop those conversations as they could get RPs, too, even if they themselves don't submit something.

[Fool_Hardy]

I am sure that there are as many ways to approach and deliver journals as there are players.

I have not done many journals myself, but I believe I would approach them either in a form of a story that happened to my character (something akin to sequels to my characters history) or in the form of dear diary "A funny thing happened on my way to the forum...." (great Movie! BTW, but most of you young ones have never watched it.)

I doubt there is a wrong way to present the journals.

[Grim_Reefer]

I just kind of summarize my interactions. It really can be anything. Submitting does yield very good results. 

[Rygothran]

Typically when we read journals we look at a few factors.

Length - The longer it is the more points you will get unless of course it just feels like fluff.

Content - This is subjective as people write different things and use various methods. Some include greater detail of their history that wouldn't fit into their actually history page. Some tell stories about their character, events that happen to them, or that they are involved in.

This could have something to do with an event that actually took place in game or could be a rp with npc's that don't even exist in game, because the world is filled with people that don't exist in OLC terms but are assumed to be there. Like an ogre that has an entire clan of people he leads, there are people within his clan he may write about interactions with that no one will ever see.

It could be something significant that happened in character like how you feel about reaching the pinnacle of your guild, getting accepted into Watcher, and/or becoming an elder. Perhaps your first PK, how did it affect your character? What were the motivations behind it, is there internal guilt or joy?

I challenge you to read Thulgan's thread. It helped me immensely in my RP. Everyone saw some big scary brute but there was a lot of depth there.

Depth - The journals that typically get rewarded the most are journals that somehow display the depth of your character. If you think of your character as this living being in the world, he/she has desires, wants, needs, and all the range of emotions that go through a typical humans mind irl. How were you affected by an event? Did a dragon killing several of your kin make you angry, sad, or did you felt indifferent. Write about it and analyze why. Make up events in your characters life that changed them. Why are you evil? Why are you hellbent on destroying evil? etc...

Enjoyment - If your journals are enjoyable to read, you will find you get more points. Was it inspiring? Did it make one of us laugh? Was it just a really good read?

I spend HOURS reading notes, journals, descriptions, and logs each week. I always try to be fair and judge on these things. I am not perfect and if you feel that you weren't rewarded the amount you feel you should have been, fire up a prayer post and ask why. I would be more than happy to work with you to see your side of things or to help you improve if that's what you need.

Journals are simply what you put into them. They are not for everyone, but I have found they help me really flesh out my RP.

[Pali]

Ideally, your journals - in my opinion, anyway - should matter to your character in some way.  They should show development and growth as they continue.  Giving a play by play of your character's day is boring - but add in what your character feels and thinks about those events, the questions they raise that your character is curious about, and that play by play is suddenly far more interesting.

 

They also don't neeed to be first person narratives or diary entries - perhaps this is the journal of an historian of Herald trying to discover your life's story a century after your death, or a collection of the letters your character sends home to his family.  Your imagination is the limit here.

 

edit: or just read what Rygothran wrote above.  Didn't see that post before I commented.  

[Tantangel]

There's a lot of good points coming from all directions here, and what @Rygothran posts, it even goes to help you further in what you want to aim at. I'll post my PSI journals on here from one of mine. I usually would try to take a focus of something I just mastered and throw in a story that could tie into it. I ended up with 177 total RP points between Quests and journals. I have even gone from the standpoint of a pure historical process. Meaning that the logs aren't from the character at all but rather the history of his/her people. I've done a mixture of both. One I was aiming to go Crusader with almost a year ago was the perspective that appeared to be as if she were a Psychologist hired within the Blissful Falls and it would turn out to be that she was actually the patient instead. I didn't get quite that far though because I thought of some Vampire RP that appealed to me more so.

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Wars throughout history have been known to rewrite history and wipe
out entire segments and entire populations in mere moments with just
a simple fire. What's to say that our own history has been rewritten
many times over? Better yet, what's to say that we're simply the bad
guys in history, but the way we perceive them is inheritably good just
because that's how we view it now that history has shown us it is? The
power of thought and the answers to unlock the depths of the mind lay
in the teachings of a powerful Gnome known as Snivelis Bentgear. His
ability to seek out answers and find them have long been unmatched
and it is in his ways I believe I can find such answers to these
questions and many others.

Long ago I sought the answers to what Life really was. It was inner
peace that came in the form of an answer, reliance can be sought only
from Oneself rather than seeking others to lean on. Leaving Deliverance
at first was a bit unnerving, but all such ventures tend to be scary at
first. The Temple to the North I had been told was the first stop to
make in gathering more knowledge.

"First the body, then the mind, young one. You cannot have one without
the other."

This phrase has stuck with me for some time. Upon arriving within the
Temple, I had been welcomed by those few within without any questions.
The only path forward though was to remove all things from the past,
a practice all hold within, shedding even their own names to rebuild
their new lives. There is no longer a Rayne, merely Legshey as I push
forward.

I have forgotten how much exercises hurt the day after training a
particular area of the body. Imagine my surprise that I would awake
to severe abdominal pain, just to try and stand up to run to the
bathroom. The fire within them was far too tense, but knowing the
alternative, I pushed through. It wasn't until I had sat down when
I realized the error of my ways for the day. Never sit after leg
day.

The food we have is quite odd compared to that of which I am used
to. Leeks, eggplant, bits of lettuce, and small chunks of horse
meat. The first time I had tried it, I lost my apetite and just
barely managed to swallow it whole. I had to drown it with a goblet
of wine, but it is all they seem to eat. A long road ahead is what
I expect, but all a means to an end.

Although today seems treacherous and I made my slow and painful trek
to the practice grounds, I know that tomorrow will mean another day
much closer than I was yesterday. I'll be taught to learn how to
strike multiple times with both fists left at my sides. A technique
of theirs for beginners only, and in time I have been promised to
learn more advanced methods. Each leading to various culminating
effects and varying combat styles.

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I have finally managed to perfect the beginning martial arts they have
shown me. Adding a few kicks in between, I was surprised to have
finally unleashed this part of my soul. My first real reward along
with a bit of surprise behind it. I had been given a small scroll with
an emblem of the mind still emblazoned in wax. Something no others
seem to have been looking for, as it appears the seal has never been
broken.

A joke though perhaps, upon opening it, it lay barren. Regardless of
this though, I shall keep it simply to have it. Whether the other
Monks knew of such or not, they do not seem to let on about it. They
have said that the studies are deep enrichment that some wait
lifetimes just to unlock their ancient secrets. The only clue didn't
lay within, but merely just beneath the seal itself. A small pyramid
shape with an eye inlaid.

Although it has been merely a few months since the beginning of my
training, I feel as if I have grown ten fold in both my knowledge and
my physical strength has come much further as well. More advanced
techniques of the body are promised in the near future, but for now
I shall learn the various embodiments of defense and offensive
prowess.

Broadening the mind involves varying techniques, to which some are
easy to learn, while others are not. Defensive techniques were at
times difficult to perfect, but ultimately being capable of turning
attacks back upon an assailant took a good month to learn to a
semi decent state of knowledge. I at first began by relying upon
instinct and peripheral vision to aid me in learning to do it better.
Had I realized it was more upon learning the movement of the person
I was fighting, I would have picked it up much faster.

If it hadn't been for the time I put into focusing on those two
things first though, I would not have realized that the scroll given
to me a few months ago has changed ever so subtly. Originally blank,
a title had emerged in that time and the byline of Snivelis Bentgear
himself.

"A journey deep within the Elder Brain", had only deepened my
curiosity of what the rest may show over time. Instead of waiting to
see if more revealed itself though, I tried a multitude of methods
to try and coax more out of it. A flame held just beneath did nothing
and didn't even set it ablaze. It even appeared as if water is
repelled. A most curious scroll, one in which may hold the key to
all paths, or merely one. Tomorrow is a new day though, and with it
brings more training.

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The catacombs beneath the city of Miruvhor have shown a great deal of
promise. Deep within lay our fears out in the open, probing my mind
for a deeper understanding. The hairs on the back of my neck had stood
up and an almost electrical sensation came with it the deeper in I
went. For a good reason, as at one point the tunnels became eerily
quiet and nothing stirred in the shadows. I could hear my own
heartbeat resonating in the walls around me, though I could almost say
that there was another matching my own rhythm.

The Hive, a nearly forgotten community for most don't travel there.
Perhaps for a good reason. The moment I set foot within, the
overwhelming sense of dread seemed to overtake me, but knowing the
path to meditation and enlightenment was so close kept me pushing
forward and to my destination. The deeper in I went, the rhythmic
pounding became more intense and far less tolerable, when suddenly
an unseen force held me in place with the promises of a future full
of death, my own among them.

I once was told that the path to preventing an invasion of the mind,
you must accept what is happening, but to further use zen in my favor
and focus upon preventing the breach from gaining further notice. To
act as the Buddah and repel such attacks. Few learn the importance
of it in any great detail, but at this point I was glad to have taken
the time to perfect it. Repelling the thoughts once I focused became
easier, and the hold loosened completely. It was in here that the one
known as Snivelis had been held forever ago, but he had left
something behind. Something that would prove useful in the time of
need. A scroll hidden behind a brick in a small dusty chamber in the
western node.

The writing was mostly unrecognizable, but a few things stood out as
the language itself was beyond my own comprehension, but the name
upon it was unmistakable. A journey to the end by Snivelis Bentgear.

This next one is the History I had written for him.

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History:

Growing up in a small town near Miruvhor, he was often finding new
people coming through to study various practices from guild masters.
As he aged and developed along with his peers, it was quite apparent
that he had quite the temper. The finaly point to this was the day
he lost all of his focus while playing a game of dice and finding
himself mounted upon the chest of a child who had been put out cold
and posed no threat. It was at this point he had been forced to do
small community tasks in the hopes that it would deter him from
going further down the path of fear and loathing.

Studying the arts of combat became easy, and he quickly adapted to
the methods he was learning at that point in time. It had been years
since his last incident and his rage becoming far easier to control,
and it was at this point that he knew he needed to move on and find
a path in life that was more suited for him. He had been told of a
tower hidden from view that delved deeper within the psyche than any
others in the world at large. The path to them was frought with
hardships and very few easy straight forward movements, but it was
promised it would open his eyes much further to the world at large.

Varying glimpses of scrolls were promised to hold treasure troves
of knowledge, but a simple mind could not be capable of reading them
and that his first steps would be to seek the Temple of Syreb in
which one had been been put away here long ago. There lay three, of
which only few have been told of and even fewer who had taken the
time to fully comprehend them. Realizing that the path to this would
require a deep mental understanding, he believed that having a firm
grasp upon a physical aspect would be equally as important.

He set out upon his travels, learning all that he could from varying
scrolls within, and finally coming upon the fabled scrolls over time
proved that indeed a more intellectual understanding would be needed
to unlock their secrets. Often in the form of broadening his mind in
ways of new lessons, and even speaking to those who are unsavory had
over time allowed him to see the potential in many. He at this point
spent most of his time in solitude after hours of training trying to
figure out the riddle that lay within.

The first scroll he had been given while training near the beginning
of his journey. This allowed him to have hope that this was what he
had been seeking all this time, but how to unleash his own potential
was another matter entirely. When the names of each scroll eventually
revealed itself to him, he knew he was on the right track and that it
was only a matter of time and effort that he would find what he
sought. A firm grasp upon both his physical body and his brain, he
could silence that which prevents him from completely losing himself
in the rage of his youth, and in the process help those around him
to realize that they need not be afraid. His travels merely just
beginning though once finding them all, he still has a ways to go
before he can atone for his sins in the past, and to answer the
questions he has going forward. What makes us inherently good or evil
and is there at any point a record in which has lied to us and what
we know is really false?

Purpose:

Believing that the path to unlocking the deepest part of the mind, he
studies the intricate path of learning the strengths and weaknesses of
his own body. A discipline few ever take on the path of higher thought
and self reliance, he believes the path to righteousness is through
finding the Tower of the Mind's Eye. Through this method a way to end
the corruption and save the denizens of Aabahran from the onslaught
brought upon by all of those who sought to destroy the weak and give
them a voice. Although physically stronger than some, he often resorts
to using words to his advantage to serve a higher purpose and thus
has chosen a life of protection of the weak and nimble. Not all voices
are heard, but with a higher understanding, the voices coming together
as one are far stronger than any voice alone.

Personality:

Often set out alone and against all odds, he can be found trying to
help others in any way he may. Outwardly quiet, and stubborn to take
advice at times seem to be his biggest drawbacks in his life. He
finds those of the opposing conflict rather intriguing however, as
they show scars far deeper than anything can physically inflict.
Though it may not fall into his own beliefs by doing so, knowing his
enemies prior to meeting them are far more beneficial to him than
never speaking at all. In some cases learning their own language is
a way to reaching out to even the most loathesome creatures, as it has
been known to open relations that no others appear willing to delve
into.

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I can see the difference like I could not so long ago. But is it as
simple as physical, or mental? Most tend to give off a glow of some
kind to signify their intentions. A great deal still give now sense
of morality they may have. It is curious to know what it is deep that
is inside them that gives off the appearance of what is Good or Evil.
They simply just are. No question as to why, nor a question of whether
they will always remain. It is as some say, set in stone. But perhaps
at some point they so choose to cross this invisible line of morality?

Even within the great Library of the Minds Eye, the answers have yet
to be found or even accidentally stumbled upon. Has any in history
been capable of proving it? Or better yet, chosen? The closest that I
have found was of interest. A few scrolls in no great detail as to
paths others have chosen in life, and what those lives imposed upon
themselves and others. Most interesting of them all are those of the
Avatars. A hand chosen few in time who have gone on to destroy the
likes of creatures known as Demons.

It has been seen through History that all rise and fall, and the Gods
are no exception. Although vast, it appears as if some things have
been forgotten through time, and very conveniently. To the victors go
the spoils as I have heard before. So too does the ability to reshape
both history and knowledge. They go back and appear quite ancient and
only appear in times of need. All serving those who erradicate the
darkness and all that it touches. Their only oppositions are those of
both Unlife and Demonic.

The appearance of portals appearing from thin air around Aabahran gives
off a sense of dread to many. Demons pore forth in a great show of
force and a sense of threat, many appear to avoid it, but there are a
few who stand tall and ready. Ready for an assault not seen in any of
our lifetimes. They gather and rally behind a flag held high on many
fronts. The Knights, standing vigilant and pushing forward. Standing
in their ranks the few Avatar who have been chosen. Ready to see that
the end of the war ends with those opposing and choosing to do the
harm to any, as they do not discriminate upon who are. Demons must be
admired in some small way. As corrupt as they are, they have no fear,
and thus the battle is waged.

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The path through the woods is often not the most safe in any travels.
It is as such we learn in time hat we are indeed insignificant in the
known world, and merely the outcome is what we make of such realization.
Control is left completely out of hand in where we all meet our end,
but knowing such a thing merely means we can control what goes on before
that time comes. We are all known to each other in some small sense of
the word, but to truly know one another we must seek out the answers to
these questions. Force fed responses can give off the taste of copper,
but to stand out, we all most be unique.

It is not up to the defeated to keep the histories alive. That honor
goes to the winners. What is it to say that because of such things, the
histories we know are false? To the victor goes the spoils, and such
as that may be, so to does the tides of change. What we do with that
is up to those of the scholars within. Corruption in any sense can sway
the opinion of the public who believes otherwise. For we cannot win a
war if the outward opinion is both bleak and negative. We cannot force
beliefs on others when it comes to such a matter.

Deception comes in many forms. From the ability to start a malicious
lie, and the few who are weak hearted will believe it most if their
cause lies with the Deceivers. Is the truth we live day by day truly
such? Or is it merely a lie we have lived without ever knowing it from
the very beginning? The many tomes within the Eye have given great
insight as to what the past has held, but the one thing it has not the
ability to do, is have the foresight to tell us the future. We may only
take it as such that we choose to put Honor, Bravery, Courage, Wisdom,
and Faith into that which we believe in. Although we may be
insignificant, those five traits will keep us true to whatever ends we
come to.