If you're reading this, you've expressed some interest in Roleplaying. But what IS roleplaying?
Exactly like what the word says, your taking on a role, a story that is not your own. Another term would be steeping inside the shoes of another.
While Roleplaying, you are not you. While you roleplay (RP for short), you think like the person your play, act like you think your character would act, and do as your character would do. For many, if done right, you can almost feel the setting around you, hear a clash of battle that doesn't exist, or the feeling of jumping from canyon to canyon.
It is quite like you've gone into another world, another country, another LIFE... all from the safety of your computer. RPG's also simulate this effect, but too a far lesser degree. It's one of the reasons why games like Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, and, for those duel minded, the yu-gi-oh video games... and MANY others.
Sound cool right? Good.
The First Step- Where on earth am I?Before you begin roleplaying, you need a few key things. Like first off... what are you roleplaying? You need a place, a time and, more importantly, a plot. You can Roleplay in w hatever world you like: Perhaps you want to take a walk in a city beneath the waves? Go for it. Feel like Roleplaying on a different planet where dangerous man-eating plants attack you on sight? Just remember to bring plenty of explosives. Another popular thing is Rp'ing in a pre existing world, such as in a video game or an anime.. books, movies, anything can be rp'd out of
The plot doesn't have to be that long, or well thought out (though it's almost ALWAYS better the longer it is) but, it gives the rp backbone, something to work for, something to keep the story moving.. It can be as cliché as A princess being kidnapped, or as complex as 307 cursed silver pieces has possesed the minds of men, leading the world to extintion via a world war, or anything in between, and well past it. I find that the better the plot, the better readers will be motivated to stay, and see what happens.
Often or not, if people get in to it, they will do their best to add to the plot, and get things moving.
The Second Step: WHO am I?Alright, you have your story. You're setting, you're plot. You get ready to five in the world.... only to stop. You don't have a character, so how can you roleplay in the world!
Your character, while not physically alive, is a representation of you.They are not empty shells You have feelings, emotions, traits, and so does your character (well, STRICTLY speaking, it's okay to have some sort of stalwart shell, or rp'ing as the living dead,,, that would be dull, walking and groaning over the entire course of the rp)
The trick is creating a believable character, from their names, to the style of clothing. The last thing you want is a 65 year old hairy man in armor, a big broad sword, and named Phineus in a world where you RP in a space station.
It IS good to make a 21 year old man in knight armor, with a hand and a half sword name Paul in a land where one must the princess from a medieval dragon n a medieval castle. Get the picture?
Like there's no end to the world you RP in, there's no limit to who you play as.... as long as it's logical of course.
What NOT to do in an Rp (otherwise known as the 'Don't EVER do this if you don't want divine punishment to fall upon you' list)
The first on the list is God-modding. Or, in simpler terms: Making another character do something. You are you. You are not Sally, nor is Sally Jim.
And Example of Godmodding, and how it would piss people off:"
Sally attacks Jim by throwing a grenade at him. Jim sits there watching the pretty rock looking thing, until it exploded, and he died."
The obvious problem with this is simple, 1), She killed Jim, another persons character. 2) she controlled him him to where he did nothing to defend yourself.
A better way to have wrote the sentence is
"
Sally tossed a grenade at Jim, hoping he would watch the pretty rock until it exploded, killing him."
This gives the chance for Jim to actually responded, and choose what to do. He could post saying he dug a ditch at the speed of sound, or simply ran like the grim reaper himself was at his heels
Now, things like dreams, or imaginations void this. Sally can be dreaming that Jim exploded in pretty colors, but it didn't actually happen. That's okay. More explanation available upon request.
The curse of the one liner.This is more personal preference, but one liners kill roleplays. Here's the best example I can give. In my last post, I write 2-3 paragraphs telling someone my characters auctions, thoughts, feelings. Then, the person I was talking too says, “Sucks to be you.” and that's ALL he put.
Having your character be mean is fine. I have no problem with that. What IS in issue is that he barely did anything to advance the story. He simply made a half-asses response, end of story. Writing is the blood of an rp. One one person d posts something as little as this, another rp'er has to pick up the slack whee the previous one left off. DOo this too many times, and they'll likely leave out of annoyance.
I'm not saying write 2-3 paragraphs. 1 Paragragh is fine just.... for the dear love of god, don't post a single sentence!
If there's any questions, ask. I'll post them on here, as long as with their anwsers
Writing a post.How you post in an RP matters as well. I'm sure most of you already know this, but do not post your form like a script for a drama play. It's basically jumbles of one-liners (see below) Posts are to be written in paragraph form, preferably in third person (no using 'I' unless you are talking.)
I shouldn't have to give an example, but ask if you need one.
Humans are humans, not fishThis is basically saying that if you're a human, you have to live withing the limits of a human, You cannot fly on your own, nor swim to the depths of the ocean wearing nothing but swimshorts, and expect to live to tell the tale. Logicality is key
List of terms (I thank Digi for giving me this list. It gives a large amount of terms one may/ may not need to know. Thanks again)
- Spoiler:
Auto - The act of announcing that an attack automatically hits; hence, the name "auto". Bad in serious RP.
Ex: -Bob punches Billy in the gut-
Calculated Damage - The act of determining the exact effect of your attack if it hits. Bad in serious RP.
Ex. -Bob throws a punch at Billy's gut, which if it hits, will cause Billy to feel intense pain and lose his breath-
Chain Attacks - Attacks that are directly tied together; in chain attacks, each attack depends upon the success of the previous attack in deciding whether or not the attack is either successful as well or is even made. If one attack in the chain is not successful, often times the remaining attacks are declared null and void.
Ex: -Bob powers up to SSJ2 and flies at Billy, throwing out one fist and attempting to uppercut his opponent hopefully knocking him up into the air. If the attack succeeds, Bob would then dissappear, reappearing above Billy with his fists locked and attempting to slam them down upon Billy's head as he flies into the air. If this attack were to succeed, it would likely knock Billy back down to the ground. If this happens, Bob would then aim his palms down at his fallen foe and fire a series of ki blasts that, if they were to connect, would pound Billy further into the ground-
Combo Attacks - Attacks that are not dependent upon each other and thus can be performed regardless of whether or not a previous attack connected.
Ex: -Bob powers up to SSJ2 and flies at Billy, throwing out one fist and attempting to uppercut his
opponent, hopefully knocking Billy up into the air. Upon completing the attack, and regardless of whether or not it succeeded, Bob would then aim his palms at Billy and fire off a series of ki blasts at his opponent. Any that connected would cause small explosions that could possible burn Billy-
Extreme Dodging - The act of dodging every attack in an RP, often without logical reasoning, though it is not necessarily so. Bad in serious RP. See also: Power Dodging.
God Modding/God Moding - The act of doing a number of things, including but not limited to: 1) Making every attack you make an auto; 2) Treating every attack your opponent makes as if it cannot hit you or cannot cause you damage; 3) Granting your character unlimited power or granting them as many different powers; 4) Controling your opponent's character without their permission, whether it's announcing that an attack hit or announcing how the character feels or thinks; 5) Acting as if your character is superior to your opponent to the point of treating everything he/she does as weak; 6) Acting as if your character is immortal; and 7) RPing in a manner that disrupts the fairness of RP via the use of an overly powerful, God-like character. Viewed as being the worst thing you can do in RP.
In-Character (IC) - The act of speaking and/or acting as your RP character. The proper way to speak/act in a serious RP.
Limitation of Powers - The agreement of serious RPers to limit the amount of power or number of powers that your character has access to. One of the basic rules of T1 RP.
Multi-Para - A form of T1 RP which consists of multiple paragraphs of text. T1 Multi-Para is often characterized by a great deal of description, multiple attacks performed in each post, and a focus on in-depth character analysis.
Newb - A person who is new to RP and thus might not know the correct methods of RPing. Not meant to be an insulting term, nor to be confused with the term "noob".
Noob - A person who is not new to RP and should know how to RP correctly and yet continues to RP in an incorrect manner. Meant as an insulting title, and not to be confused with the term "newb".
One-Liner - A form of RP that consists of simply one line of text. Often used by newbs, noobs, and those who simply lack the ability to describe things.
Out-Of-Character (OOC) - The act of speaking and/or acting as your RL self. Improper in a serious RP.
Para - A form of T1 RP that consists of one paragraph of text. Usually either descriptive with few actions taken or not descriptive with many actions taken.
Power Dodging - The act of dodging every attack in an RP, often without logical reasoning, though it is not necessarily so. Bad in serious RP. See also: Extreme Dodging.
Power Playing - The act of RPing in a manner that attempts to force your opponent into taking actions he/she does not wish to take; attempting to describe an attack in a manner that makes it seem as if it is either unblockable or undodgable.
Real Life (RL) - Real life is simply that: the real life of an RPer.
Role-play (RP) - Role-play is the act of assuming the identity of a character, either pre-existing or original, and then participating in scenarios and fights in which you act and speak as your character.
Role-player (RPer) - One who role-plays.
Semi-Para - A form of T1 RP that consists of anywhere between one line of text to almost a full paragraph of text. Often characterized by consisting of a bare minimum of descriptions and actions.
Sub-Calculated Damage - The act of providing some suggestions for possible effects of an attack while not outright claiming what the effect will be. An advised aspect for serious RP.
Ex: -Bob throws a hard punch at Billy's gut. If it were to hit, it could possibly cause him some acute pain, as well as possibly causing him to lose his breath-
Type 1 (T1) - A method of RP that consists of turn-based combat with descriptive posts that can consist of anywhere from almost a full paragraph to dozens of full paragraphs. Follows a strict set of RP rules. Often used in forums and through services like Xanga and Myspace.
Type 2 (T2) - A method of RP that focuses on speed-based combat that are often not overly descriptive. Follows a strict set of rules concerning word counts. Often used in chatrooms and instant messenger services such as AIM and Yahoo.
Type 3 (T3) - A method of RP that is based off of T2, yet lacks the rules that make T2 organized and fair. Uncommon, and found almost exclusively in instant messages.
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