17.9.4 THEATERS: ACTORS AND CREW
If you're a member of the cast of a production, these are the commands you'll
use to perform.
STAGE BACKSTAGE: From before the stage, go backstage. All the acting you'll do
is from there. (Using this command to escape combat is forbidden.)
Note that, while backstage, you can talk and do anything you like and the
audience won't see it. The only things the audience will see are things you do
with the BACKSTAGE commands listed here.
Also note that you can't do these commands until the Director starts your role
up with the BACKSTAGE ROLE PERFORM command. That's what determines who the
audience will see doing and saying things.
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Entrances and Exits
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BACKSTAGE ENTER [text]: Used for your entrances. If you supply some text, it
should be in the form of an emote (e.g., "BACKSTAGE ENTER enters with a
swaggering stride"). If none is supplied, a very simple default form is used.
BACKSTAGE EXIT [text]: As ENTER, but for your exits.
For either an enter or exit, you can specify "SILENT" as the text to make a
silent entrance or exit (the audience won't see it, though it will be visible
backstage). Also note that the list of roles in STAGE LOOK will only show those
who have entered and not exited, so you should always enter and exit when
appropriate.
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Acting
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BACKSTAGE EMOTE <text>: Works just like a regular emote, but will be visible to
the audience, and appear to be done in role. Note that you can't use ^name
syntax to target people, you'll have to specify their names. EM can also be
used in place of EMOTE. For instance, if you're performing the role Lolly
Pringle, they might see:
Lolly Pringle puts a hand to his head, pacing nervously.
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Speaking
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BACKSTAGE SAY <text>: Say something. The audience will see it in their usual
Says color, as if said by the role's title. For instance, if you're performing
the role Lolly Pringle, they might see:
Lolly Pringle says, "We must get to Gloriana, quickly!"
Additional features of SAY you're used to will also work here. This includes
prefatory phrases (in parentheses at the start of the say), emoticons (at the
end of the say), and SAY TO. However, for SAY TO, you need to specify the name
of the role element, and you can't abbreviate it, so "SAY TO Lolly Hi!" will
work, but "SAY TO Loll Hi!" won't. The role also must be currently performed.
BACKSTAGE YELL <text>: Like a SAY, but it'll look like you're yelling. Don't
worry, you won't really be heard anywhere but on the stage and backstage!
BACKSTAGE SHOUT <text>: Same thing, only looks like you're shouting. (For these
purposes, everyone in the audience will see the role name, whether or not they
have the Recognition skill.)
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Aethers
-------
BACKSTAGE AETHER <channeltype> <channelname> <text>: Simulates speaking on an
aether, though again, it will only be heard on stage and backstage. The
audience will even see it in the right colour (depending on the channeltype you
specify; this can be GNT, GT, CT, or OT). For example, if someone playing Lolly
Pringle did:
BACKSTAGE AETHER CT Ackleberry This doesn't look good.
The audience would see this, in whatever color they usually see CT:
(Ackleberry): Lolly Pringle says, "This doesn't look good."
As an additional note, you can include underscores in the aether name and these will be parsed as spaces. For example:
BACKSTAGE AETHER OT Silver_Seekers Hi!
would result in:
(Silver Seekers): Lisaera says, "Hi!"
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Singing
-------
BACKSTAGE SING <text>: Just like a SAY, but singing.
BACKSTAGE PERFORM SONG <song>: Allows a bard to perform a song previously
composed with the Composition skill. You'll need to be wielding an instrument.
Imbued powers are ignored for these purposes, as are time limits; the song is
purely for performance, not for its powers, in this case. In fact, if you are
performing (or sustaining) a song when you use this command, it will not be
altered or interrupted in any way; your on-stage performance is completely
independent from your off-stage performance.
BACKSTAGE PERFORM REFRAIN: Allows you to repeat the previous stanza of a song.
You don't need to specify the song name.
BACKSTAGE PERFORM FINISH: Forces the song to finish.
BACKSTAGE PERFORM STATUS: Reports the status of the song you're currently
performing.
BACKSTAGE PERFORM IMPROV <text>: Allows you to perform a line of lyrics as if
it were a composed song, but without having to actually compose one. You can
even intersperse these with composed lyrics. You can use this to perform songs
too long for conventional bardic songs. The main difference between this and
BACKSTAGE SING is that this will appear in the same format as a composed song,
like this:
"For I was there and in the middle of it," sings Lolly Pringle, playing a
finely-crafted violin.
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Other Commands
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BACKSTAGE OFFSTAGE: Go back to before the stage, the opposite of STAGE
BACKSTAGE.
BACKSTAGE AUDIENCE: Glance out to see the audience.
