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| Roleplaying 101 - Your Guide to Roleplaying; A Must Read for Beginner RP'ers. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 7 2012, 08:29 PM (270 Views) | |
| Jarroc | Sep 7 2012, 08:29 PM Post #1 |
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Roleplay Advisor
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Roleplaying is an exciting field of writing, and can expand into anything that your mind can think of. From the frozen tundras, to the burning deserts, to a massive party, to quiet reflection, Roleplaying can demonstrate the powerful writing abilities in a world we have created. Now, stepping into the world may be intimidating, because many Roleplayers are part of a cliche. They tend to have standards, and sometimes frown upon the beginners, without even considering teaching them. As a RP'er for five years, I've nearly done every type of RP out there. From high fantasy, to science fiction. From humanized, to quadrupedal (Dragon :3). From adventure to even a little romance, I have explored the corners of the RP world, and yet there is still more to be discovered. With my experience comes knowledge on what a lot of people do and don't do, and some of the common mistakes players make when they first start out. This guide is here to help you learn the basics, and begin to roleplay efficiency as you begin to take your first steps into an imaginary world. I: What is Roleplaying? Roleplaying is the art of putting yourself or another personality into a character, not necessarily in the same physical shape as yourself, to explore an interactive, imaginary world. To put it simply, you are making an imaginary being and talking or acting with other players who have imaginary beings. At first, this seems very daunting, because you have no idea what you want to be or how you want to act. II: How do I start Roleplaying? One of the first tips I give to players that start off is this: Be yourself for your first time. Strange, yes, but so very true. If you can, roleplay someone as human as possible, with the same personality and details of yourself as that character. This will help you feel a bit more at home with your character, and begin to focus on exploring the world. Yes, this has the side effect of tying your emotions with that character, but it is one of the best ways to get used to roleplaying. If you don't feel like being human, choose what you want, but feel free to put your own personality in your character to start off with. Once there, feel free to talk to anyone you choose! III: Some of the Basics Before we dive into Roleplaying itself, there are a few things to take notice of. This can be broken into three parts 1) Typing Style 2) Out of Character 3) Interaction Etiquette 1) To begin, you may notice you see a lot of symbols or styles of Roleplaying in text form, many of which could be confusing. However, if you break it down, it makes a lot more sense. There are two primary styles to write RP: Novel style and RP style. Novel Style is nice when you're focusing only on one character, or if you have a lot of room to write. You can be very fluent with your descriptions without the clutter of many symbols. Take for example, an except from "Darkstar the Guide", a RP thread I have.
You might recognize that this follows standard English in writing, and that is correct. A lot of RP'ers start off using this style, because it's what's best known to them. The second style is RP style, which use the symbol you may be unfamiliar with. This is the same except, except rewritten in RP style.
Notice the *? These are what we call action symbols, and are generally a lot easier to see then quotes. RP'ers like to use this in IM's or chats, to make their posts appear easier, or even to make actions in Out of Character chat sessions. 2) Speaking of Out of Character, what is Out of Character anyways? Out of Character, or OOC, is what RP'ers call the chat not involved in the RP. The best way to think about it is In Character (IC) and Out of Character. (OOC). Your character is IC, and only knows what he knows, which is the world around him. OOC is yourself, as a person, who knows things beyond the world that your character knows. If you wish to communicate about matters a a player, not as your character, you would use OOC. Once again, we look at my excerpt, but with an OOC thrown in to communicate to the person I'm playing with.
Notice how my character didn't say what I wanted to tell my player friend? In OOC, RP'ers typically use Double Parenthesis ((Words)) to express OOC, because single parenthesis can stand for an in character, stand-alone thought. While most players use double parenthesis, not all do. In fact, [OOC], {OOC} or even <OOC> can be generally accepted, depending on who you talk to. Get to find the symbol that works best for you, and use it to indicate any thoughts not involved with the RP. 3) There are a few general rules in RP'ing, basic etiquette when interacting with fellow players. If a perfect world, we all know what we are thinking, and we can predict what they will do. However, that isn't always the case, and it's nice to follow a few pointers before you try to RP with somebody. -Do not move any character you do not own. Called Power Playing, this is making a character that is not yours move, without the owner's permission. This is a serious problem, and even the smallest movements can cause troubles. A good rule of thumb is to not move another character without their permission first. This can be done in a chat, OOC, or PM. Eventually, you learn that there are SOME exceptions to this, but for the most part, just play your own character, and let your partner play his. -Do not make your character say anything that he doesn't know, or something incoherent. Talking about stats in character isn't very realistic of the character, and having your character know what's behind a wall because you know it is called God-Modding, or playing God. Embed yourself in your character, and think what they think, nothing more. It will help in the long run. -Try not to be super powerful. Yes, we all love being able to squash anything with a blink of an eye, but don't try to push something that's beyond your abilities. Another form of God-modding, being ultra powerful by no logical means is just bad play, and nobody likes a character that can kill everything in one shot, or make every women/man fall in love with them. Fun is achieving goals and hardships that you do, like we do in the real world. It's what we call life. IV: One last thing to go by. These guidelines look daunting, I know. It's pretty scary stuff once you lay down the facts, and sometimes you can get nervous about making a mistake. Here's the nice part about RP: Everyone that has started has made mistakes. I admit that my first two years of RP'ing are the ones I hate the MOST, but I soon moved on and became who I am today. Practice is what makes you perfect, and having good RP friends makes that practice even better. If you have any questions or concerns about RP'ing, PM me your question, or even request that I have a IM chat with you, and I will do my best to oblige. It's not easy starting to RP, and while I may point out some of your mistakes, you can only get better each time you learn about them. So enjoy your time roleplaying. It's a chance to explore your mind and the minds of others, and take part in a massive environment where almost anything is possible. I am eager to meet some of you new RP'ers for the first time on these forums, and I will be happy to RP with you whenever we get a chance. Jarroc, Pokemon World Moderator Edited by Jarroc, Sep 8 2012, 12:58 PM.
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4:37 AM Jul 11