Mentoring Sample Letters by Day

[★Lilythe]

Day 1:

Welcome to Camp Half-Blood RP!
We are so happy to have you! My name is _______ and I'll be your mentor for as long as you need me. My goal in this orientation is to help you learn how to navigate the site, understand the rules and expectations, and get you started roleplaying with us!

A little about me, I have been a part of this site since ______ and have been participating in play by post roleplay since _____. I am... (put information about yourself here, keep it light though). What should I call you? Are you new to forum roleplaying altogether or do you have some experience?

Now, I'm sure you'll want to get started as quickly as possible! First things first, you'll need to create your application. The application is done in HTML so if you need help, please let me know! It can be intimidating your first time, but you quickly get used to it once you know what to look for. You don't need to finish your application right away. If you label it as "In Progress" the staff will know you're still working on it.

Once you have your application started, the claims are next. Even if your application isn't done, you should still reserve the things you want so that someone doesn't sweep in and take the last spot while you're working on your application. Your reserve is your safety net to ensure that you will have your spot by the time your application is finished.

Also, if you haven't already done so, you might want to introduce yourself. This thread is an out of character thread so that other writers can get to know you better. It's a great way to meet people.

The next part of orientation is going to be getting you set up with your first roleplay. In order to do that, I need to know a few things about your character first. Are they a child, teen, or an adult? What kind of personality do they have? Do you have a preference on what kind of interaction they have?

And finally, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! There are no dumb questions, and I'd rather have to answer the same question 10 times than have you be lost. So please, ask anything.

Sincerely,
(Your Name)

[★Lilythe]

Day 2 (you can skip this one if their app gets approved before you send it, or edit it accordingly):

Hey there (insert their alias here, if known), 

Let me answer your questions from before! (Please answer them here).

If you have other questions, please don't hesitate to ask, but for now I'll continue with your orientation.

While we're waiting on your application to get approved, let's take a look around the site and get to know things a bit better. We won't go over everything today, but we definitely will cover a large chunk of the important parts of navigating the site. I'm going to put a list of links below and explain the function of each area. Please check them out to familiarize yourself.

• Welcome and Site Information
  • This is where you'll find all the information on the rules and setting. It's definitely best to make sure you read up on those when you get a chance. While most of them may appear common sense, there might be a few that are definitely unique to us that you'll want to be sure of.
• Help
  • Just like the name suggests, this is where you go when you're having difficulties and need to contact staff for some help. Don't see the topic you want covered? That's okay. Create a new one.
• Claims
  • Claims are used to reserve various things across the site, and to help us keep track of who has what. Because, canonically, certain things are limited, in order to keep the appropriate atmosphere on the site we, too, have to limit some things. This helps us keep track of everything and also helps to ensure that everyone knows what is available and what isn't. 
  • Member Directory
    • This is a list of all our members and their characters. It's a great way to find out who plays who. It also helps us keep track of just how many individual writers there are since many play more than one character.
  • Character Claims
    • This is where you go to claim anything and almost everything about your character. Cabin? Here. Limited Ability? Here. Age? Here. Twin? Here. Please look this over while designing your character. It can be helpful as a quick-reference guide on things. 
  • Character Birthdays
    • We keep track of this so that we can auto-advance your character's age so you don't have to. But you can also use this to plan events with other characters regarding birthdays and such.
  • Awards and Drachmae claim
    • Some of our awards will be awarded automatically, but others will require you to let us know when you've accomplished the task! You'll want to come here to claim all of those. Hint: Getting characters approved is an award you'll have to claim! 
  • Face Claim
    • Here's where you can list which celebrity your character will be represented by. 
• Character Development
  • This includes everything from your application to an area where you can do character enrichment. Anything pertaining to expanding your character will likely be found here.
  • Application
    • This is where you apply for your character. Staff will review it and it can take a few days, please be patient! 
  • Character Records
    • All approved applications go here. This is our record office. You can go back and view your application at any time in case you need to remember something from your past for something you're currently working on.
  • Want-Ads
    • Are you looking for a specific role for someone to fill in your character's life? Maybe they have a best friend? An enemy? A lover? You can post a want-ad which will let people know what you're looking for. If interested, someone can apply. It's then up to you if you want them to fill that role or not. 
  • Character Enrichment
    • If you want extra space to develop your characters, ask the staff to make you an enrichment forum by posting in this thread. Need a place to put your thread tracker? Enrichment. Want your character to keep a diary? Enrichment! This is where you put anything about your character that isn't their application, a plot, or a role-play.
  • Canon Character Central
    • This is where you can apply to be one of the site's NPCs if you're feeling up to it! There are a lot of them, and the staff doesn't have time to write for every single one. So if there's a God or Hero that you feel particularly passionate about, or maybe just a creature you think would be fun to play as, consider applying for one of our NPCs. It's a great way to earn extra drachmae and get more involved in the site.
  • Personal Plots and Quests
    • Personal plots are things that you write out when you might need to get several people involved in an idea you want to play out across several roleplays. Stories that involve multiple characters, but don't impact the world at large, just your character and the other characters involved. You can apply to have your plot approved so that the staff will then help advertise a need for characters to be filled. You must have a personal plot approved if you want your character to go on a quest, for example, because it requires the specific NPC Rachel Elizabeth Dare to be involved. To read more about personal plots, go here.

And I think this is where we'll end it for now. That's a lot of information in a small amount of time. Do you have any questions about anything I've put in this letter? As always, I encourage you to ask. There are no dumb questions, and I'd rather answer the same thing 100 times and make sure you understand than have you out there confused because I didn't take the time to re-explain.

Sincerely,
(Your Name)