Hi, Shell! Welcome to Storycrafter.
There's no set cost for donation, and if you wish more information, you might want to PM or Email the Founder - he hasn't been on in a while, though, so you might wait a considerable amount of time for an answer.
So, what questions do you have? Let's see what you typed above.
"I'm extremely new to this forum and want to join a group but can't figure out how to navigate and who to ask if I can take on an available character."
Okay, so you've hopefully found the main site by now (
www.storycrafter.com), this being just the (rather rarely-used discussion forum).
On that site, you'll see all kinds of game catagories, and the full links to the newest games along with a description.
Games are their own little boards - each one has its characters, threads, storycrafters (GM), whatever.
Let's look at one of mine. Open another browser window, and sent that here.
http://www.storycrafter.com/story/index.php?storyid=4545Okay, so now you can see Lamplighters. You'll note there's a menu across the top. At present, I'm not looking for new players, or there would be a "Join the Cast!" option as well. To do that, you'd need a characater, but we'll get to that later.
You'll also see 'Prologue' and 'Rules'. These are the places that a storycrafter gives some information on their game...hopefully.
Also, there is 'Cast' (aren't mine a handsome and beautiful bunch? :). Here are the players of my game/story.
So back to the main page.
Below the picture are the story threads. Right now, it has been more than a week since someone posted in the Chapter One story thread *coughs*Mr. Daniels, Line One. Mr. Daniels?*coughs*, so it has vanished off the page (to be found by clicking 'show all acts', off to the right). There's an OOC thread where the players talk out of character, and numerous threads about the rules, the game world, etc. It is up to the Storycrafter to make these threads - players in the game can post in them.
Below that is the 'Game Message Boards' area. Some people use these for OOC chatting. I don't, but that's personal preference.
Most importantly, off to the right is YOUR section - your personal area. It has your private mail box (probably reading 'no new messages' right now), and your Character Watch List (if you haven't made a character, you won't have anyone here yet...).
When you find a game you'd like to join, and it asks for new characters (again, 'Join the Cast!' in the top menu), you can make up a character for that game (usually after checking up on the game and seeing what the GM is looking for...you often find this in the top menu under prologue, rules, that sort of thing). To do that, you'd click 'Manage Character'. It takes you to another screen with your entire character list (probably short right now), along with (at the top right) 'Create New Character'.
Once you've done that, you can click 'Join The Cast!', and it'll ask you which character will be 'auditioning'. The Storycrafter is under no compusion to accept! :D
Me, I find it useful to send the SC a Private Message first, ask them if they'd be interested in your character concept, if they have a character you could take over, whatever.
So how to do that?
Click on 'Cast'. It'll list the cast of the game. In mine, you just see a bunch of players. Click on 'View Supporting Cast' (top right). A number of interesting/odd people show up, including 'A candle'. Notice that beside 'A candle' it says 'as the Storycrafter'. Now you know who to Private Message!
To private message me, click on your 'No New Messages' link, on the right. That'll take you to your mailbox. Make sure you're still in my game, though - don't do this from the front page!
Here's the somewhat...quirky PM system. :) Note the 'Compose Message' button on the top right. Click that.
You get a choice of dropdown menus. The 'To' menu will always give you a list of the people in the game where you are right now. It'll also always give you a list of the admins.
Clicking on A candle will set it up to send a message to me. Subject, write out the message, then click 'Send' at the bottom.
Questions? :) Probably tons... :(
