How to TSL

[Emily]

How to: The Sinking Lure

Welcome to The Sinking Lure, a forum-based Legend of Zelda RP. We're open to all skill levels, and know that new sites can be a bit daunting for people new to RPing or writing, so this thread should serve as an easy reference guide. TSL has a few elements that might be confusing for people who have been on a lot of RP forums, so hopefully experienced roleplayers will also get something from this thread.

The first thing to note is that all players will have one account on TSL. All of your characters and OOC (out of character) posts will be conducted through this one account. If you make a mistake and accidentally name your account after your first character, don't worry, we can change it for you. You won't be able to post in the RP boards until you've created a character. Once you've created a character, a staff member should be able to change your permissions, and then you're free to RP as much as you like. All future characters you create can also be played immediately.

Character Creation

The Sinking Lure has an uncommon method for character creation among forum RPs. Instead of writing lengthy applications for new characters, we ask that you write some basic information for them and post that in your own character thread. Go to the Character Sheets board and create a new thread, titled whatever you like. This will be home for all of your characters on the site, and something for other players to reference when they interact with your character in-game. You can link to this thread in your profile as well, making it easy to access.

Here is an example character sheet to help explain things.

Your character thread is entirely your own to decorate and format your way. The only thing we ask is that each of your characters has their own post in your thread. Beyond that, go crazy. You can use whatever fun tracker or plotter formats you've found online, you can add character art, link to a theme song. The world is your potato.

For each character, please at least include their Name, Pronouns, and Appearance. Appearance should include enough for other characters to reference about your character, including their Race, or at least what race they appear to be. You can always add more, whether that be character Abilities, a reference for their Personality, or a Biography, you're free to pack as much information as you want into your character post. If you need help or have any questions about character building, post in the Character Discussion room on our Discord server.

If your character has abilities or a backstory that you want to clear with staff, let us know by sending any of us a PM, a Discord DM, or posting about it in the server. We're pretty open to working with and allowing interesting characters. We're also extremely happy to work with you to reference and use elements of your characters in the larger board events and storylines!

When you post your first character in your thread, alert a staff member so that we can give you permissions to post in the RP area. If there are glaring issues or if you have concerns, those can be addressed at this time. Because of the single-account nature of TSL, once you've received posting permissions, you're free to add as many extra characters as you feel comfortable playing. You can also retire characters as you like. Once you're in the RP, we have full trust that you'll know how you can best enjoy the experience.

RP on The Sinking Lure

TSL's story begins a few years after the end of Tears of the Kingdom. Zelda is Queen of Hyrule, but Hyrule Castle and Castle Town haven't been rebuilt. She lives in Hateno Village, but travels to Lookout Landing from time to time with Link. These are NPCs and will not be involved in the board story except when needed for major board events. Most locations are the same as they were in the game, with a few exceptions. Gerudo Town is open to people of all genders, the Coliseum is being cleaned up, and construction has begun on rebuilding Castle Town. Outside that, your exploration of TotK will tell you exactly what to expect on The Sinking Lure.

On The Sinking Lure, we use player-created threads to roleplay. This means that, if you have a specific scene or idea you're trying to accomplish in a region, you'll create a thread for it in that province's board. This can be as broad or specific as you like, whether that's fighting through the depths to find Lost Gorondia or running a stall at the Lurelin Village night market. You don't have to know where the thread will go when you create it- that's one of the joys of an RP! Everyone involved can contribute ideas. Check out the Map Depository for more information on regional borders.

When you create a thread for the scene you're wanting to play, you can add tags to signal your intentions for it. If you're open to anyone joining and adding their own ideas, add [Open] to the end of your title. Alternatively, if your character is going through a solo scene for specific character development, write [Closed] or [Solo]. If you've used the Looking for Group room in the Discord server so multiple characters are involved from the start, put the character names in the tag like [Earl, Purah, Ghoulfingers]. You can add [Open] after the character names if you're open to more people joining the thread.

Because of the scene-based nature of TSL's RP, your character can be in multiple threads at the same time. This is entirely fine, as long as these threads aren't occurring at the same time. If you're finding it difficult to remember where your character is or has been, your character sheet can be used to link to the different threads your character has been involved with!

Occasionally, there will be an event thread. This will be tagged [Event] and will be announced in the discord server. It will also be stickied until the event concludes. If there are restrictions or specific requirements for the event, they'll be listed in bold in the first post. Unless stated otherwise, all characters are welcome in event threads. We're always happy to see your characters involved in board events, so please join if you're interested in any of them!