Overview
Age of Prophesies is a mostly free-form collective storytelling game manifesting itself through role playing in a forum environment. It can be related to many other role playing games where you would sit down with your friends, however this is playing on message forums and bulletin boards with many more players. As with all Role Playing Games they generally feature storytelling and fantasy or science fiction, under such conditions participants (players) create a fictional character and then, through posting, tell stories about those characters, whilst also maintaining a record of those characters’ possessions, knowledge, skills and abilities through the character sheet.

As with any game, there are challenges, dilemmas and obstacles that must be faced, either from the game world, or from other characters. When this conflicts and events occur, moderation helps resolve the situation and determines what is and is not possible depending upon the situation, the players’ skill and realism (which will be explained later). Moderation typically occurs in threads where combat, interaction, or a change in your character’s knowledge, skills, abilities, or possessions transpires.

Once you have created a character then you will want to get right into playing the game; AoP is all about role playing by writing the stories about your character's adventures and interactions with other figures and the rest of the universe. Below are some helpful hints and explanations regarding the writing of your stories.

Narrative
All role playing in AoP is done in narrative prose, meaning that each sentence is written in third person (he, she, they, etc.) and past tense, just like you read in a storybook of fairy tales or your favorite fantasy/science fiction novel. When role players speak to one another they usually use the first or second person (e.g., "I would like a drink..." or "You come to a dead end in an ally..."), however this does not, usually, lead to inspired reading for your fellow players. Instead you should try for something like this:

Azanael walked through the doorway, his eyes scanning the room for potential enemies.

You may notice that the character’s actions occur in the past, rather than the present, and that the character is referred to by name rather than a first or second person pronoun. With a bit of practice, this style of writing will become natural to you and will allow other players to feel more immersed as they interact with your character.

Advancement and Progression
Character Advancement and Story Progression is, no doubt, a difficult thing to measure in AoP, just as it is in other similarly structured role playing games; this is because every player and every writer has a different way of measuring success and accomplishment. AoP is a virtual universe, a simulation of a fantasy science fiction reality constructed in detail, and contributed by players in design and development in order to create the best game possible. How do players advance? How do stories progress? Hopefully the following will answer those questions.

Knowledge
Learning knowledge, discovering secrets, uncovering mysteries, and making intellectual breakthroughs are just some of the many things that Character can continuously do; some characters are designed almost exclusively with this in mind, in fact. Telling stories about how your character comes to reveal truths about themselves and others can help you define new aspects about your literary figure. Static or flat characters almost never change, are adverse to growing, and more or less approach the world from the same position; but, dynamic or round characters are ever-growing, ever-changing figures that learn from their experiences, and ultimately become more believable and compelling figures for epic heroes and villains.

Skills
Learning a skill, and its abilities, and then putting these teachings into practice, helps build a dynamic that improves your character's fundamental capabilities in the force, combat, and other skills. Yet, this is also one of the most rewarding opportunities for you and other players to tell stories. Rather than rely upon an arbitrary set of game mechanics to put your character through the rigors of acquiring and improving skill proficiencies, you could team up with fellow-minded players and a talented moderator or two to tell the story of how your character attended the Jedi Academy and uncovered a conspiracy, bested opponents at an interstellar tournament, or invented a remarkable device that changed the galaxy forever. These three are but examples of how applying a story idea -- by taking a character’s story-goal, and combining it with a character’s skill-goal -- helps create a more captivating and enjoyable role playing experience for you and others.

Abilities
Once a character has learned a skill, they are trained to use some abilities that make use of these skills and eventually create their’ own. Instead of limiting yourself to abilities that are commonly known throughout AoP, your character could embark on quests to discover ancient abilities long thought to be lost, or create new abilities of their own and either sell them and become famous, or jealously guard these secrets. The possibilities are endless for measuring a new level of advancement within a skill itself.

Possessions
Acquiring wealth is a beloved hallmark of all fantasy and science fiction stories, and obtaining ancient mystical artifacts, legendary weapons, and epic treasures is synonymous with accomplishment in many circles. While some characters will be covetous and seek out loot throughout their journeys, possibly in some cases being defined by their greed, other characters may use possessions as a foil to tell broader stories. Perhaps a legendary artifact is but the beginning of an adventure that leads full circle, or pursuing a fabulous booty can spark conflict between pirates and fleets. Think about ways in which you can take a typical treasure hunt or dungeon crawl and turn it into an interesting story; challenge and encourage other players with opportunities and rewards to face risks. Today's danger could very well be tomorrow's glory, and the only way to know is to embark on the quest.

Relationships
At the end of the day AoP’s most epic of storylines is all about relationships between characters, from the alliances and political intrigue behind the Kingdoms, to the accumulation of power and courting of influence by the factions. Characters are as much defined by who they know as they are by what they can do, and so joining a faction, starting a faction, or swearing fealty to a particularly powerful individual can be the beginning of a new dimension for your character. What does your character hope to get out of the experience? What is your character willing to give? What beliefs and ideas drive your character's ambitions? How do these goals interact with the objectives of other characters? How will your character be remembered by others when history turns to legend, and legend turns to myth? Relationships should be at the heart of the AoP community because our stories are all built around players and characters coming together to define the connections that make the universe fantastic, magical, mysterious, and adventurous.

Interactions
At the heart of writing in AoP is interacting with other players and moderators. To interact, think about whether it makes sense for your character to have traveled to the location where the thread takes place, and then, post a reply describing your character's actions, thoughts, and speech. Generally speaking, many threads in AoP consist of players interacting with other players, without the need for special rules or considerations. These types of threads are typically called social threads or filler threads. However, when a thread begins to involve actions and consequences, rather than just conversations or normal, everyday behavior, then those threads - called scenarios - will need to be moderated.

In AoP, moderation is when an observer (a moderator) determines the consequences of actions among players. This is done by posting only what your character does, not what happens afterwards. This provides an opening for other players to also respond and provide their characters' actions. Finally, a moderator will post what happens taking into account your character's knowledge, skills, abilities, and possessions. After the moderator has posted, players can act again to move the story forward. Many of AoP’s most compelling stories are ones that are told by involved moderators that place the player characters in the starring roles as the heroes and villains of the adventure.

AoP can be overwhelming at first, because just like the real world, your character can do anything you can imagine; the only limits are those set by your own creativity. As your character travels throughout the universe, interacting with players, visiting planets, it's a good idea to keep a few things in mind about moderation.

Read Moderator posts carefully.
Avoid controlling other characters.
Action versus Reaction.
Also known as "cause and consequence", you can only post what your character is doing -- not what happens as a result of what your character has done. You ordinarily have to wait for another player to respond with his character, or, in the event that your character is attempting to interact with something in the world around him, like an object or an ability, a moderator usually has to tell you whether or not you were successful.

Realism
Role playing is all about immersing yourself in the experience, and even though AoP’s setting is a medieval universe of the mysterious and adventurous, the story still has to make sense. Please do not use out of character information -- things that you know in real life, but your character should not -- to give your character an unfair advantage. You will find yourself having more fun if your character grows and evolves from the challenges and experiences that he or she faces.