Post by Jackie Santiago on Sept 22, 2007 23:07:06 GMT -5
What is Roleplaying?
For those who are unfamiliar with roleplaying, roleplaying is a way of interacting your characters with other peoples characters. It's a form of interactive writing and story telling that allows you to form plots and build histories while having fun! Within roleplays, you can control your character's actions, thoughts, and depending on if you started the roleplay or not, the scenery/climate.
However, keep in mind that you will be unable to control the actions and thoughts of someone else's character. It's what makes it fun. You never know how they will respond to your personal character.
As Defined By Wikipedia:
In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the role of characters, or parts, that may have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. Role-playing is a game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, they may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcomes.
Other Information:
Different roleplay forums have their own set of rules. However, one of the most universal rules is the 'No God-Moding Rule.' What is God-moding? God moding could be considered several things.
What Should I Include in My Roleplay Post?
The Starter Post:
The starter post is the very first post of any roleplay thread. Its usually the longest post throughout the thread because it includes important information that others who respond will work off of. A starting post should include:
Responding to Other Characters:
Has someone now responded to your starter post? Or are you trying to join someone else's rp? Here are some things to include in a response to a roleplay post.
Some Other Considerations:
For those who are unfamiliar with roleplaying, roleplaying is a way of interacting your characters with other peoples characters. It's a form of interactive writing and story telling that allows you to form plots and build histories while having fun! Within roleplays, you can control your character's actions, thoughts, and depending on if you started the roleplay or not, the scenery/climate.
However, keep in mind that you will be unable to control the actions and thoughts of someone else's character. It's what makes it fun. You never know how they will respond to your personal character.
As Defined By Wikipedia:
In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the role of characters, or parts, that may have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. Role-playing is a game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, they may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcomes.
Other Information:
Different roleplay forums have their own set of rules. However, one of the most universal rules is the 'No God-Moding Rule.' What is God-moding? God moding could be considered several things.
- Controlling the actions and thoughts of someone else's character.
- Harming someone else's character without their permission.
- Having an overly powerful character with minute weakness's. They call these characters "Mary Sues"
What Should I Include in My Roleplay Post?
The Starter Post:
The starter post is the very first post of any roleplay thread. Its usually the longest post throughout the thread because it includes important information that others who respond will work off of. A starting post should include:
- Day or Night? Give a nice in depth description about the time of day. Write about the clouds if it's the day time, or the sun setting if you would like the early evening. Let the roleplayer know so that they can respond accordingly.
- Climate. Is it warm? Raining? Cold or chilly? Has it just snowed or is it currently snowing? Again, describe what is happening in the scenery. The more you describe it, the longer you're post will become. Make sure that the climate fits the season and location that you have chosen to roleplay in. (For instance, snow in the Savannahs is incredibly unlikely to occur.)
- Now begin to introduce your character into the post. Is your character walking somewhere? What mood are they in? What's on their mind? What type of things are they seeing, hearing, or doing? Much of this will be the bulk of your post. It allows other rpers to visualize what your character is up to.
- Generally, you can now finish off the post however way you may please. Make sure it's left open enough so that others can respond. Something like "Alexis now sat down upon the hill, waiting for someone to show up." That's merely an example.
Responding to Other Characters:
Has someone now responded to your starter post? Or are you trying to join someone else's rp? Here are some things to include in a response to a roleplay post.
- As with the starter post, you want to describe what your character is doing, feeling, and thinking. However, now they must respond to the other character. Will they hide? Or will they greet the individual? Are they being attacked? Based on your characters personality, create a response to the other individual.
- Depending on the situation, they should also respond to the climate. If it has begun to rain, make sure you acknowledge that.
- When interacting with someone elses characters, that you dont force any actions upon them. Lets say you would like your character to bite someone's paw playfully. Instead of saying "Joe bit Angel's paw and she said owe." You would write, "Being in a playful mood, Joe attempted to bite Angel's paw. He grinned as he waited to see how she would react." This allows for Angel's player to decide whether or not they actually get bit and how they will react.
- There are special rules regarding fights. This will not be covered in this section.
Some Other Considerations:
- If more then one person has joined the rp, it has become common courtesy to wait for everyone to respond. No one likes it when people begin to break off into personal side conversations with their characters. Try and be mindful of each other.
- Roleplays are usually done in 3rd person.
