So just what IS GRIT, then?

To put it very simply, the GRIT is very much like a role playing game set in the Ranma 1/2 universe, set a few years after the end of the manga. Of course, it's not really that simple.

I describe it as a 'role-playing game', but there is no Gamemaster. The closest we have to a Gamemaster is Jason Heavensrun, who as the one who started GRIT has an honourary Administrator (or Nantan as he prefers to be called) position. But we don't see much Admin stuff from him because generally it's not needed.

GRIT started out on the newsgroup rec.arts.anime.misc. You might think that a newsgroup isn't the best stage for an internet based role playing game, and you'd be right. GRIT eventually moved to a mailing list in late 2004. The webpage for the mailing list is http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/gritpost/.

However, GRIT's newsgroup history still affects how GRIT is 'played', so to speak. In a regular role-playing game, you describe the actions of your character and the GM adjudicates, then the next player describes his actions, and so on. However, this isn't possible on a newsgroup - describing just your characters' actions would slow things down to much. So when posts are made, GRIT participants write up mini stories with their additions, trying to fit it in with the post they're replying to, in which they have to write the actions of characters not their own. You can quickly see that some ability to write is important.

Those - the role-playing bit and the fanfic writing bit - are the two main parts of GRIT. However! It gets even more complicated! Controversial posts can lead into HUGE meta-discussions about the nature of GRIT and the nature of Ranma 1/2. Hence the discussion board/chat room part of the definition above. However, this aspect of GRIT hasn't been some for some time now.

The theme of GRIT is something that's mutable and occasionally under serious discussion. GRIT can be serious. It can be comic. It can be tragic. It can be lighthearted. It can be about demons, angst, romance, martial arts, the need for groceries, or all five at the same time.

And it seems to be the nature of GRIT for big fights / threads to get out of hand on a regular basis. An example is the big fight in the "The One to Carry On III" thread, from 1999. This escalated to involve TWO threats to the planet, and I (who started it off) didn't intend either. This has happened to most of the big fight scenes that we've had in GRIT. ^_^ And it's not just the fight scenes that can get out of hand, either.

So thus concludes my attempt to explain and define the GRIT. You may still be confused. If you are and you're interested in finding out more, you're in the right place, as this is after all the official GRIT page. There's a FAQ, combat and general character guides, and several essays on aspects and the nature of GRIT.

It should be pointed out, though, that the single best way to find out about GRIT is via first-hand experience. In other words, lurk, and read all the GRIT posts made in a couple of weeks to a month (depending on how active it is at the time), and get an idea of how it runs and what's accepted and what isn't. This is a general piece of advice tha all the GRIT veterans agree on.

And finally... there are two very important things to note.

First, as of this writing (6th April 2005), GRIT is big, bloated, and filled with characters whose players left a long time ago. After most of the current stories are tied up, or close to tied up, there will be the Hiatus. This will be a year of in-game-time, during which time characters will leave and dangling storylines finished. Sadly, there is currently no *room* for new, major plots. If you want to join and introduce a new character, keep this in mind.

Second... well, GRIT has slowed down. A lot. Once, several posts were made daily. However, due to players leaving, and other players getting jobs and 'real' lives, we just don't have as much time anymore. Throw into the mix a lot of long-running stories reaching their culmination and a lot of characters and confusing events to keep track of. Posts are, at the moment (6th April 2005), very sporadic.

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This page was last updated on the ??th of ???, 200?