Modus Operandi
Modus Operandi is a modern day role-playing game that combines mystery, adventure and romance with the excitement of an ongoing story based on Morada, a fictional island in the Caribbean. In Modus Operandi, you will have the opportunity to make friends, take part in great expeditions, solve crimes and other mysterious happenings and become part of a virtual community. You will create a "character" who will have a personality of your choice, who may have a job, or just lounge around in the sun, and who may even own a home or a place of business one day! The sky is the limit; you develop the character as you wish, from a cranky detective to a friendly tourist, the choice is yours. Morada, the island you will be on, is ever-evolving and new areas and adventures are constantly being added to keep the story going.
Other than your fellow players, you also have the help available of the Mentors (called Island Guides), Game Hosts and GameMasters. Island Guides are volunteers who have taken on the responsibility of helping new tourists. Shortly after you arrive, you will probably be met by a Mentor who will welcome you to Morada. This mentor can answer any questions you have and help you get started. Mentors also normally give out a few basic items to new arrivals to help them as well, such as perhaps some extra clothing, a backpack or other container to carry things in, and so on. If you wish to speak to an Island Guide, you may go to the Tourist Information Center (TIC) and ring the bell there to speak to a Guide if one is available. A quick way to find the TIC is to stand anywhere on the main city streets (Downtown, New Marina, West End and so on) and type DIR TIC . This will provide you with directions.
The first process in playing the game is to create a character, and the first step is to choose a name for yourself. You'll want to use a reasonably acceptable name in the modern day genre. A good tip is to use a name you might find in a phone book, for example. Avoid celebrity, vulgar, or out of genre names. Once you've chosen your name, you'll need to choose whether you are male or female, your age, height and build. You'll also further customize your character by deciding about skin tone, eye and hair color, hair length and style, and any special facial features. Male characters also have the option of selecting facial hair, or lack thereof. Note that some of these choices cannot be changed later, such as height and age for example, without erasing your character and starting all over, so take your time in making these decisions.
As you make certain selections such as height, build and fitness level, your character will be assigned numbers in the vital statistics (stats) such as strength, dexterity, agility and vitality. These statistics are described more in a later section of this document. An important thing to remember, however, is that unlike your features (height, weight, age etc.) these statistics are not permanent! You don't need to worry about whether the stat numbers are right for your character, the numbers will constantly change over his or her life.
