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 Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:04 pm
All grated goes to Silme Mor
Role-play guide for the commoners!
Accepting: Role-play Requests & PMs
The most important thing when role-playing with text is that with more experience and practise, the better you get. This accounts for everything really. Literacy is important in life, not just in role-play, which gives a perfect reason to why you should always try and be literate in anything that requires you to type or write. This guide will show you some ways of practising on being a better role-player and even writer. It's good to try and read everything, even from the links I may post of other threads that are all about how to role-play properly.
The WHY " Why are you making this role-play guide?" you may ask. " There are already a few good ones." Well, you see though how useful some of those may be, they lead up to more advance stuff you won’t always find on or in Gaia threads. I always come to role-plays finding that they have a starting of a good plot, but the role-play itself isn't all that great because I keep finding a lot of people who just like role-playing as semi-lit to literate.
You're probably looking at my guide right now before finishing this post thinking, "This is more like a writing guide then role-play guide".
You see, if you are a serious role-player then you'll be reaching beyond literate as I have when it came to role-playing. I find it more fun and challenging when you use several paragraphs then just ten sentences because then if you role-play with people that do the same; it's like making a group story. Writers would enjoy this since this is a way to challenge your ability as a good writer to follow someone else's rules (Or if you're the RP master of the thread, making your own rules, world, plot, ECT.)
There is a whole group of serious role-players out there, waiting for a good role-play to show up, only to find ones that are not all that greatly planned or thought through. I happen to be one of them, thus way I'm here to type this guide for the commoners of the role-play world.
Please note though that I'm not saying all the semi-lit role-plays are bad, I'm just here to help the not so literate role-players to become serious and enjoy the vast typing creation of advance literate role-plays! ^_^
And yes, I'm available for role-plays when their good, and yes, I will tend to be super serious with it.
Authorities of the Thread
Quote: Owner- Silme Mor Co-owner(s)- no one *** RP Helpers- People that help others with their role-playingno one so far Rule enforcers- Those that keep the thread clean and tidyno one so far RP Guide Writers- Those that help in the writing and completion of the guideRunefoxIf you'd like to be part of the guide team, let Silme Mor know!
To be apart of the team:
Just simply ask! You can post here or pm me. As long as you can role-play well, you can join. If you are a writer, please keep in mind that other writers may want to add somethings to what you have written. Don't take offence or anything because it is allowed and this is a guide that will be completed to its fullest with the help of many.
Table of contents
Quote: [x] Role-play Development I [x] Role-play Development II [x] Role-play Development III [x] Role-play Development IV [x] Role-play Set up [x] Character creation I With Making good Villain, Hero, and Neutral Characters est[x] Character creation II [x] Character creation III (Updated) [x] Other: Mary-Sue! [x] Writing: Goods and Bads [x] Bring in the Realism! [x] Spell Works [x] Anti-munch Project! [x] Terms and the like! --------Page 2-------- [x] Links [x] Practise role-play [x] Grammer Rules [x] Fighting classes & Weapons [x] Monsters and Their Weaknesses
Rules of the guide!
1.) Follow the Gaia rules when posting replies
2.) Don't bash. This is just friendly help and suggestions.
3.) Don't be rude or negative. It's only one of many guides after all.
4.) Please don't ask me what’s the point of this… I just wanted to do it. If you don't get it, go.
5.) I welcome criticism, but only if it's helpful.
6.) You are more then welcome to get practise here for role-playing so you can get help.
Quote: Things to Come:Role-play Development: NCP MonstersSlang terms Spell works: Magic Definitions Making your text more interesting Ideal Types of Characters Foe Creatures in a story line
If you think I should add anything, just let me know! You'll have credit of course for your idea!
People who Gave Ideas for the guide:
Quote: Silme Mor- Me! The mother of it! =3 Agronatica- First to do so (other then me) ^_^
Updates!
July 7/07
Since it is now summer I plan on re-vamping the guide during days I'm off from work and times I have nothing better to do. In regards I am strongly looking for people to help me in this quest to make the most complete role-play guide will ever see. If you wish to help PM me or post here of your ideas, suggestions or sections. I accept links as well if you have them.
April 25th
Finally! A new update! Sorry for the long wait. Kind of hard to keep with it when not so many people are interested. Oh well. I added the "to make a good villain, hero and neutral character' in the character I section. Enjoy!
December 2nd
I'm looking for people who can help build the guide. Which means anyone who can give ideas, sites, or even help by writing sections themselves and give them to me with credit at the bottom of each of their sections. I would really appriciate it, since I could use the help and the completeion of the guide is important to me. 3nodding
November 29
I'm adding in the links section the option of having links to long term role-plays! If you wish to put yours in, pm me or post! 3nodding
November 20th
I added Fighting classes and Weapons! If you see anything that should be added go ahead and post it! And as you may see, all the weapons are old fashion. I don't really promote guns and such, but if there is a mass demand for a gun list, then I'll make it.
October 29th/06
I added grammer rules a while ago for anyone who didn't notice. I also thought of somethings I could add later on. I wish more people will give be feed back and such. =(
October 19th/06
Well, I added the Anti-munch project a while ago and today I put in the grammer rules, both taken from a role-play commence hangout I go to. I'm still excepting comments and ideas so go ahead and post!
Sept. 10/06
I finally up up the guide and opened it!
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:05 pm
Role-play Development (Part I): Planning & Tips
This is the most important step, weather your are role-playing, writing, or doing school work. Planning for anything is the main thing behind the whole. The ideas your see before you in the words, sentences and paragraphs upon paper or screen have been planned out thoroughly so the reader can get the basic idea and follow along easily.
Way do we have to plan for a role-play? You may ask. Well, there's more to a role-play then just a simple paragraph with flourish writing of how there is destruction going on and the main hero, whom you end up taking anyways, tries to save everyone, and it's all written in 10 to 15 sentences. To most serious role-players, they can see that you didn't plan all that entirely well and that the role-play will be a bust and die. Which makers of role-plays can find upsetting if the role-play dies off when it never truly finished, and it can also be upsetting to people who liked the role-play.
When you are going to plan, you must always ask yourself questions and think of what you need:
Questions -What's the purpose of this role-play?
-What is it what the plot needs to keep people interested?
-How can characters of other people effect the story?
-Why is this happening? What's its reasoning?
-Is there any purpose behind the characters?
-What is it about the villains that make them villains?
-Does the plot match up to the world I have created?
-How do the many races of this world effect it and each other?
-What is the conflict in the plot? How did it start? Who caused it? When did it start?
There are many questions to ask yourself, and by asking these questions you will start bring up a great beginning to a role-play! Some tutorials that I've read say to create a plot chart (the whole trigger point, raising action thing we all learn in school). For role-plays though, since you are going to be writing with other people, you should plan out just the beginning part. The raising action will be created as you role-play and the falling action and conclusion will come on its own (if it's a short term rp or you plan to end it at some point).
You should also think of the genre of your role-play since that will help you figure out what questions to ask and how to come about typing up your role-play. It makes things easier, so here's a few to pick from:
-Fantasy
-Sci Fi
-Romance
-Historical
Also with the planning stages, you will end up thinking of the setting. If it is a present day setting, or a setting that takes place in real world history, it's easy to think of one as long as you remember how things were/are at those times. Think of these basic questions:
Questions -What era/century does this take place? -Is there anything historical or mythological happening at this time? -How do the people of that era act compared to now? Why? -What have they dressed in then? - What are the roles for men? women? Children? -Is there anything significant that happens here?
You want to make sure it all makes sense or those role-players who know of those times may not like it and boycott your role-play.
What Role-playing is all about
I'm sure you all know what role-playing is, or you wouldn't be here, but I'll remind you guys.
Role-playing is to take on a character that you are not. A Role is like that in any play, and playing is well like it says. Role-play is to be that certain character through out a plot or story. Forms of this in real life are mostly seen in plays, movies and cos-play (A form of life role-playing in which you make a custom on an anime charater and be them in every way). In Role-play video games you play as the character presented to you and control on what he/she does (though not his/her personality).
Role-play, more or less, is being something you are not. Playing out a character and figuring out how he/she would act to conversations and actions then what you would do.
When you role-play you are always with someone and it's important to make the experience fun and enjoyable. You should look at some of these tips:
When you role-play, think about what you are typing. A mistake here and there is okay, but if your purposely do it isn't fun for those reading. Here are some examples.
Example *w@lkz in* W4z^ pp1z? *S33s h0++ gur1* Hi!
I really, REALLY hated doing that post… it uses what people call, chat speak. Really lazy people who don't know how to truly role-play will use unnecessary shorten speak in role-plays. It is truly disgusting and I do not want to see this ANYWHERE in the threads. Loads of people hate it except those who speak like that on the net.
Example *walks into the bar* hello people *sees the pretty girl in the corner* hey what's up?
This... is slightly better then the first one, it has slightly more, but is no where close to meeting serious role-play standards. You'd still get badly burned for this depending on the person. Truly, even this annoys me since there is no capitalization, no commas or punctuation and not much to it. Makes it hard to read.
Example A young man comes across a bar, and decides to enter. He strolls on in and sits at the bar table, waving for a drink. As the bar tender prepares it, the young man leans on the counter top and looks around. He spots a young, pretty girl in the corner sitting alone and a slight smirk crosses his face. The bar tender gives him his drink and he walks over to the young girls table. "Do you mind?" He asks, looking down at the girl.
Think this is literate? This would actually meet semi-literate status in some people’s case. There are some flaws all through out this example. There is puppet mastering going on with the bar tender. If no one is playing the bar tender, some of the game masters may let you control them for a short time. This may be longer then the first two but so much more can be done to make it more interesting and acceptable.
Example The night was setting in, and the moon soon began to disappear from the forming rain clouds above. First a drizzle, then heavy rain poured onto the cold earth below. A long man was wandering down the road that night, his head bowed and clothes soaking. His charcoal leather boots where now coated by slippery mud. His hair waved from side to side, the red colour coming out through the wetness. His eyes kept to the road, with emerald colour gleaming in the night. He brought his head up more as he saw the soft glow of a building coming from a window. As he drew closer with each step he soon came to realise that this building was actually a bar. "How I strive for a good pint right about now," he mumbled to himself, his voice low and horse from the cold. "Always helps a weary man." He crept open the door and stepped out of the rain into the dry warmth of the bar. His black trench coat was now dripping, the water rolling down to the bottom trim and dripping onto the floor. He sighed as he walked over the bar counter, using his hand to shack his hair dry. He looked for the bar tender, wondering if he'd be able to get a drink. "Hey, is someone working here?" The man called out, yelling toward the door which he assumed the bar tender would be behind. The man's pale face seem to turn to stone as he waited for a chance to get his drink, till he saw her. His eyes caught a glimpse of a young lady in the corner. What wonders has his eyes come to see. He felt his heart make a hard pound against the bones in his chest. He looked away for a moment, then looked back getting up. He made his way through the maze of tables, chairs and people to get to the young lady's set. As he got closer he could hear his heart pound harder. "Excuse me, young miss?" The young man looked down at this beauty that has come into his sight. "May I join you? I promise that I'm no wild beast from the woods." He cracked a smile, hoping the girl will accept him rather then reject him.
This is closer to what serious role-players are looking for. It gives a sense of time, how the character responds to it and what he's thinking. That's important to keep in mind. Let it be known though, this post may not even match up to the Elite and Advance role-players of the role-play world. Only they know if you are up to that status or not.
Another good tip to keep in mind is to never put detail you don't need. If you go off and describe a chair of great magnificence, but nothing is done with it then there is no point of it being there. Never put things that your character or anyone else’s character will never touch or use.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:07 pm
RP Development (part II): Story & Plot
As you are aware, the most important part of a role-play (other then having people come and stay) is having a good plot and story that will captivate the people and bring the fellow role-players. You don't want to end up using a story that is bland or has been over used and is becoming a major cliché. Now, let’s look at how to come about creating an interesting story and plot.
I know that there are people out there that are taking English saying, "I know how to create a story and plot" and others saying "What's the point of this?" Well, I come across people that pass English, but suck when it comes to actually story and plot development. Allow me to explain.
The definition of a plot from the dictionary is:
The story or sequence of events in a narrated or presented work such as a novel, play, or movie.
What some writers and authors would define a plot as:The story or sequence of events of the characters in a narrated work.
The plot of the story is the plot of the characters. Some may go as far and say the character is the plot. With out the characters being there and being who they are, the plot will just be and never move on. The characters are needed there to develop the plot. The plot isn't already fully figured out for a role-play. The maker only starts the plot; the people that come continue and even finish it. Unfortunately in some role-plays, the plot never finishes because everybody leaves. That is when the marker of the role-play kind of kamikazes everything and closes the role-play.
To create a good role-play plot, all it really takes is the introduction of the story for the role-play. The plot is normally shown within it along with everything else of the story.
The story is basically everything. The plot, the setting, the characters, everything. The introduction of the role-play you'll start off with the plot that has the main event that causes the problem, which is actually just the beginning of the role-play story. When creating the story, remember where everything is taking place, where it's going to and what the purpose of it is.
Now, to develop good story development skills, you'll have to read, and read A LOT. You don't become an incredible writer over night you know. It takes time and patience to develop a good story, like everything else does (except of the incredible mistakes that better out lives). You have to plan: get the plot, get the setting, get the world, get the characters and have the answer the whys.
Some Tips if you are lacking on what to make a role-play about:
Tips - Write down three random things and make a story off it. It's always interesting on what you create from them. - Don't stress about it. It'll flow through you at the most unlikeliest of times. - Think of something in the real world and begin altering it. Sometimes you get ideas that way. - Read, Read, Read! Reading novels is a good way to get ideas flowing and developing the writing mind. - participate in other people's role-plays. Seeing how well they do and to give you an idea of what not to do.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:08 pm
Rp Development (Part III): Your world and how it is
The world you create is all part of the story. It could even effect the very plot you have planned so hard to create. Do not fret though my dear followers of the role-play world, for creating new things is fun and can help you better your story and plot.
When creating a world (meaning a new world or alternate earth) there are many aspects to consider:
Questions - What was its history? - What is its geography? - What kind of people live in this world? Do they effect each other? - How many countries/kingdoms/ Empires are there? What government are they run by? - Are their any great natural resources? Where are they? Why are they there? - What are the religions of this world? How do they effect each other? - What kind of technology do they have? - Does magic exists here? How does it effect the world? Why does it exists? How does it exists? - Is there extra moons/ suns? How to they effect the world? The geography? - Is there any legends/ myths/ folklore?
There are many questions to ask when creating a world, but this is just a basic few. If I continues it would go into questions meant for professional writing.
Some of the questions asked are some that people over look or don't think about like how magic plays a part in the world or how geography effects history or how and extra moon can make the flow of water different from the flow of water on earth. A lot of people avoid the governments in stories too, or don't think about it fully. I've read a lot of stories where it's all kings and royalty ruling over the lands of the world. Well if you look at the history of government, you'll see that the development to freedom and democracy starts long before the travel to the new world back in the times of the Roman Empire. Not every place will be ruled by a king or a person of royalty. In some kingdom, country or Empire, the leader would have been elected and from there you pick the government that rules over that place and how it effects the people, the economy and trades with the rest of the world.
I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I don't think Tolkien thought up Middle Earth with every detail and the relationships between races and countries along with history over night. You can see from his works of Middle Earth that he would have planned quite some time. But sometimes thinking of all those things can determine how good a story is. It just makes it seem more realistic and the characters more believable.
Now, there are some tips you should keep in mind when creating your own world:
Tips -Keep to the genre. People don't like it when they are reading a story that's suppose to be all fantasy and suddenly goes Sci-Fi. -Remember the plot! Only put things you need for the plot to work in this world. You don't have to do every single thing. Only where the characters are going and the places involved with the main conflicts/problems -Remember history and geography. Certain geo features can bring difficulties and history can, (and with humans existing) repeat itself. -You don't have to go full blown into details. A simple sum of surroundings will do. Only type about what is important and will be used by the characters, not about something that will never be mentioned again.
Once you have all your ideas and stuff to match your world to your story, you can finally create the world! The fun thing is that you can make anything you want for your world! (depending on the genre) You just have to remember to give a small reason why it's like that. You can't just have trees floating around with out any real reason behind it or it just seems dumb. It is magic or gravity that makes it happen, or is it just a completely alternate universe? Explain as you type in shuttle ways.
The other thing that is fun about making a world is that you can make bran new plants to put in this world! (original creatures are talked about in the next section).
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:09 pm
Rp Development (Part IV): Races, Creatures, the diversity
Now, most people don't realise how many races and creatures there are in the world of fantasy that they can be. Because of the lack of information, people will end up using the same old ones we here all the time. Demon, human, elf, vampire, and angel are ones people will mostly use or cross breed with them. For serious role-players though, they know how to make a good, well balanced, realistic character to stay away from the Mary-sue/ Grey-stu boarder.
The common races and creatures are always used, but not as much as the half breeding. I always find people breeding two races that wouldn’t be compatible, especially if their races are at a conflict and they have opposite beliefs. For example, a common one is demon/angel. In just about any role-play that has an angel and a demon race available, and allows half breeds, well over half the people that join do the cross breed of them, and rarely will there be just one sided.
If you want to be different, you can always cross breed with other creatures that would work, like Goblin and Orc, or Tinted and Vampire. You can even pick a race that is rarely heard of in role-plays, like Drows (dark elves), Golems, Titans, Yuan-ti, Wraith, and many others. If you want to be truly original though, you can always create your own race and explain it. It can be difficult though if you are fixed on a race that you would like to be but want to be original. Why is it difficult? Well, one example is with dragons. They are in every single culture and religion and are mentioned in a lot of fantasy books. To be original with a dragon is nearly impossible now a day since D&D owns most of the dragons made and practically every personality and power has been used for them, not to mention where they can survive.
Now diversity is, as most should know, the number of groups in an area. When you are making your role-play, think about how many races there will be. If there are many different kinds, you can create a problem from it and use it in your story/plot. Keep that in mind it you are stumped for what kind of role-play to do.
(more to come)
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:10 pm
Role-play Set up
Once you learn all you need to learn you can make your own role-play! Yay! Here’s a sample of a basic set of for a role-play.
Set Up Title
Sub title
The story
Main Plot
Rules and outlines
Profile &
Original Characters
Main characters
Progress & Link to OOC thread
Title and subtitle: The title is, of course, of your rp. It should be catchy, but not misleading. The sub title is mostly an emphasis of the title which gives a slight insight to what may be included in the role-play.
The Story: A sum of where it’s taking place, time and place, est.
Plot: The events that lead up to and the major problem that gives the story its point.
Rules and outlines: The foundations of which keep the thread together, and if broken, force those of the unjust out of the role-play. Can also have a white list and a list of those people should respect highly.
Profile and Original Characters: Profile is the basic set-up for other people to use when joining with their own character. Original characters are those you have previously made for people to use.
Main characters: Characters that have joined. (Meaning those of other people).
Progress & Link to OOC thread: Progress is just short little updates of the role-play and the link to the *OOC thread
*The OOC thread is quite important if you want a good and functioning role-play. Good role-plays start off with an OOC thread to get people to join and for OOC chatter that may not be wanted in the actual role-play thread. Keep in mind of the Barton OOC rules. The majority of things you talk about in the OOC thread should be of the role-play.
You can have more then what if shown, but this is just a few things you may want to have. Don't neglect the OOC thread. If you want a cleaner role-play of OOC chat then make an OOC thread so the people in the role-play can talk about the role-play and what to do next with their characters, or other stuff.
*OOC thread Set up (Can also check the stickies too!)
OOC Set Up Title
Sub title
Information of the role-play (Plot, story act.)
With link to Rp
Updates
Role-play characters
Title and Sub Title: The same as the actual Role-play title and sub title
Information on the role-play: You don’t have to go into full detail on everything of the role-play. Just a small sum will do along with the rules and link to the real role-play where they can get the full scoop of it.
Updates: Place where you can put any changes, updates in story/ plot and tracks on characters.
Role-play characters: Those that have joined the role-play. Some may put all the role-play characters in the OOC thread instead of the role-play thread so the role-play thread doesn’t get cluttered or stretched out.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:13 pm
Character creation (Part I): What you should know
Your character can be just about anything, act like anything, and do anything. But remember, they have to develop and grow during the role-play and must be suited for that role-play.
Everyone my think that the very most important thing for a role-play is the plot. Well, it isn't. It's the characters, for they are the ones that are the real plots and stories. They determine where the story starts, and where it ends up. As they develop and change, so does the story.
People say they hate it when people don't come to their role-plays because it goes no where and think it's because of the plot. That is part of the problem. It could be the people that are already in it who have no real role-play experience or the plot doesn't seem to need people (or it could because the plot is just plain stupid or you are illiterate.)
It's important to remember that the characters should be realistic and befitting the story. Don't always go for the cliché stuff either. Depending on how you use the cliché though, you may be able to make it work for you.
Three examples of classic clichés:
A Prince or princess who hates being royalty and wants to escape the castle.
The hero is stubborn, or can do just about anything.
The villain wants to take over the world/ destroy the world.
Other clichés are: (Thanks to the [ELFWOOD] site)
Classic Cliches The classic hero (brave, handsome, and has a tendency to save kitties from trees. Bonus if he’s good with swords and used to be a farm boy.) The classic damsel-in-distress (beautiful and completely useless. Has no idea how to do anything for herself. Submits woefully to her downtrodden position.) The princess (beautiful, docile or snobby, and likes elegant gowns. Bonus if she has blonde hair.) The prince (snobby, handsome, brave, or sweet - no matter what guise you put him in he's still a prince) The loner ( rugged, silent, and tortured by his past… we've read him a million times.) The amnesiac (especially if she's royalty, a powerful mage, or fulfils a prophecy) The orphan (especially if he's royalty or the one to fulfil a prophesy) Royalty (We're just tired of royalty, okay?) The Woe-is-me ("mummy just died and daddy wants me to be just like him but I just can't because I'm afraid and what will I do and I think I'm gonna cry…") The seductress ("you are rugged and handsome and even though you have a wife at home I will tempt you with my sex appeal because I am beautiful and like to wear leather thongs.") The Fallen Angel ("I've been cast from Heaven, my wings are broken and I will despair.") No emotion ("Blink. Blink." Volkyns and Elves are particularly good examples) Villain’s sidekick (he falls for the hero and betrays the villain. Or he’s an idiot who always screws things up but is forgiven every time.)
These ones are wildly found in stories and role-plays based on or around fantasy.
These get tiring really fast. Don't have them in every role-play you do. If you do use them, give strong reasons. A villain won't just take over the world because he feels like it. It’s normally because they either discovered a great power, and do to their personality and past they decide to take out their anger on the world or they dislike the rulers of the world and decide to be the supreme ruler. Change it up a bit.
Links to Cliché Lists:
Game console RP list:
I thought this would be good to have since a lot of game clichés can transfer into text role-plays.
The RPG Cliché List
Longer then the other one, and is in alphabetical order.
The Grand List of Over Used Sci-Fi Clichés!
I’m not so into Sci-fi stories and such, but it’s useful anyways.
Dictionary of RPG Clichés
Another RPG one, but hey, why not? Has some other things.
Grand List of Fantasy Clichés
Doesn’t have as many, but gets the point across.
List of All Clichés
The title is misleading, since it doesn’t have every cliché, but has quite a number that others don’t. Mostly has common sayings.
List of fighting game character stereotypes
I found this amusing since I started role-playing in a sword-fighter rp.
The Grand List of Horribly over used Medieval/ Renaissance Clichés
A simple list to keep in mind for more medieval stuff.
Risus Fantasy Clichés
Has clichés from races, straight down to the fantasy hooks.
Forbidden Cliché List 2003
Like the rest, has a rant of the person, then they rant about each cliché. This is more for super hero stories and plots.
The not so grand Cliché list (Fantasy)
Has some different clichés then the others.
More lists may come…
Keep in mind though: Just because they are a cliché doesn’t mean you absolutely have to avoid them for your role-play or character development. If you use what is considered to be a cliché in a more creative way, people won’t really care.
Making good Villain, Hero, and Neutral Characters est.
A well made villain:
What comes to mind when you first hear the word villain?
Some may think of the super hero villains, other when they apply it to real life think of the criminals that rob banks. In most cases they are always in mid age. Is this true for every villain? Well, let’s dissect this bit by bit then shall we?
A villain is the opposing character to the hero. They are also called the antagonist. A villain is always an antagonist but the antagonist isn’t always a villain. Many of you probably know this much but it is the matter of going beyond the stereotypical things you are given in everyday life through TV, video games and books.
There is an antagonist in everything, it's just the matter of recognising them. In superhero movies and comics it’s fairly easy to pick out the villain since they are out to destroy the hero for ruining their first plan seen within the series. Many of them have reoccurring villains, but who are the main ones?
In other kinds of things, like TV shows and other types of movies and comics, the antagonist are not always so easily to spot to begin with. The only way to find one is to think about how one character is creating a struggle or barrier for the main character. The point of the antagonist in any story, show and movie is to create struggle for the main character which doesn’t always have to be on villainous basis.
Villains aren't always evil to begin with and don't just suddenly think that they will destroy and conquer. They normally become evil though something traumatic, where some may take a different road, in the way they think brings them to villainy. Just because as a child a bully knocked their ice cream out of their hands and suddenly think they will take over the world. It takes something on a much larger scale that works with their ideals and beliefs.
So you see, a villain is a real person. We see them and think "Oh! They are evil!" when in all reality that is what they believed had to be done to gain closure in a way. You can start off with a villain that solely appears to be nothing but dark, but at some point shows some human like characteristics, like worry, sorrow, pain, and maybe even has fallen in love. This is where a lot of people have trouble. They don't give that human like quality with the evil that makes it believable and makes people hate or be sympathetic with. People tend to make it seem that they are evil from the beginning and have no human qualities because of it. Most starters have this. I myself have done it a few times. Adding that human quality gives it an extra quality, weather it be insanity, or a different way of viewing everything.
Now, how do we make an interesting villain? How does he or she end up the way they do? Well, think what your hero and/or heroine are like. A villain is suppose to oppose the hero, thus they will have a quality that the hero may not have. An example given in a site is Superman and Lex Luther. Superman has all the physic, but Lex holds all the brain power. Thus its muscle verses intelligence. Another way to have an opposing villain is having similarities to the hero's counter part that gives the advice. Then is more that the hero is battling against a villain who shares qualities that their counter part has. Most of the time the counter part is the heroine, and the villain will always take advantage of it. It tends to create the whole damsel in distress cliché in which the villain will kidnap the heroine and threaten her life unless the hero co-operates.. It works sometimes but depends on the whole situation. Losing that one counter part to the hero made the rest weaker till they came back is the general idea.
Well, it seems the bigger villains in the things we enjoy tend to find the weakness of the hero first. Majority of the time, it is a female that a male hero loves or a hero's closest friend. But in return the hero will find the weakness of the villain as well, thus the downfall of the villain's plan and saving the day. But does it always have to follow this pattern? What would happen if the hero didn’t find the villain's weakness?
Now, does the amount of evilness change depending on gender? No, it really doesn't. Just the name really. A female villain is a villainess. When faced with a male hero most always have the villainess being to flirt and hit on the hero since he is appealing. This doesn't have to happen. A female is capable of being just as villainous as a male, though the experiences through life are different because of the different treatment and growth a female has to the male. I always find it interesting that in movies with gangs that there is a female head of it that is more frightening then a western male gang head. Most of this is with those around a movie Asian feel (e.g. In the movie "The Protector" the villain to the hero is a female gang head that runs all the behind stuff).
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I mentioned before of the word antagonist. Now let’s look at the definitions for villain and antagonist. (Dictionary.com)
Quote: Villain:1. a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel. 2. a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot. Antagonist:1. a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary. 2. the adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other literary work: Imago is the antagonist of Othello.
Now we know what they are by definition. So as you see, a villain is an antagonist, but an antagonist isn’t always a villain. Thus in many areas of entertainment there are multiple antagonists. We normally see them as ‘rivals’ to the main character when they have similar goals or anti-heroes.
You don't always have to have someone as a villain, but it's good to have an antagonist on hand. They may not be as villainous as a villain, but they are very well capable of creating trouble for the main characters. People do tend to find creating antagonists easier then villains anyways because the antagonist can be anyone that knows the main character, like a rival.
So when in creating a villain, don't go for typical things. They are just an antagonist of the plot and will be the biggest one so you should plan. Here are some points to keep in mind:
Quote: -A villain can be any age and of any type of person. A simple grandmother can be very capable of being a villain if she really wanted too. -Villains do have human qualities and most fear them. Put some human qualities into the character to make them believable, but not just all the bad qualities like the over used 'Seven sins'. -A villain can have any occupation and will appear as a villain to some. -How the villain came to be should make sense to his/ her personality and thought process. Most don’t suddenly become a villain because their dog died or a bully knocked an ice cream out of their hand. It’s normally more traumatic then that. -How is the villain more powerful then the hero/heroine in character? His he more intelligent, more strategic, more powerful, more secretive? -Is what the villain/antagonist doing affecting the hero physically, mentally or emotionally? (e.g.: The working of the antagonist is making the hero slowly go insane?)
And remember, don't be afraid of being a villain when role-playing! It could be quite the interesting turn from the hero or romantic interest. Yes, the characters are supposed to hate you, but hey, it can be fun.
A well made Hero/Heroine:
What do people think when they hear the word 'Hero'?
Most of us would think of someone who saves lives and protects them. There is a wide range of how a person can become a hero and even more so in alternate worlds but is that person deserving the title of hero?
When it comes to creating a hero, it is just as easy to falter in many ways, sometimes more so then a villain character they create. One way that people follow is making everything come easy to the hero and that when ever and where ever there is a challenge only they can do it and they are able to do well in anything. It’s boring to read about and when that kind of hero type character is put into a role-play it breaks a lot of the role-playing guide-lines that literate and above role-players do well to follow.
Another mistake that people do when creating the hero is giving the hero the worst life they could possibly imagine but know all these things and is able to do all these things and suddenly is the only one that can save the world. In my opinion I find this mistake the most annoying since like the first type explained, everything suddenly comes easy to them with the difference being that they never knew how to do it before.
The hero will forever have hurdles in life that they must jump over, and not always do they make it. Don’t be afraid of having your character fail at things and like the villain, don’t be afraid of putting other qualities into the hero. The hero isn't always the greatest person around or the most liked person around. No matter how nice they are, people will find something to dislike about them.
Now... We know that there is villain and antagonist where a villain is always an antagonist but an antagonist isn’t always a villain. What goes with hero?
The other term for the hero/heroine of a story/movie/show/etc is protagonist. It works in similar principals as the villain and antagonist thing. Here or some definitions.
(dictionary.com)
Quote: Hero 1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. 2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child. Heroine1. a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities. *** Protagonist1. the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.
In this situation, a hero/heroine is a protagonist, but the protagonist isn’t always a hero. A protagonist can be a hero, but by using that term you leaving a wider variety of qualities for your main character. Your main character can be a villainous character him/herself, weather their antagonist being the real hero of the story.
Now that we know what a protagonist is, let’s continue on looking at what makes a good hero.
Now, we know that a villain doesn’t just simply gain a motivation out of nothing or something fairly simple and easy to get over. The same kind of deal works for a hero. A hero doesn’t suddenly happen just because they felt like it. It takes something that requires their use that will make them into a hero. Like a villain, it is sometimes a big tragedy that happens, but unlike a villain, they wish to take a just path. This also leads to the reason why you should put realistic human characteristics into your heroes and villains because they could have the same tragedy happen but react differently depending on their personality.
Now, I mentioned heroine once before. Is there a difference between hero and heroine (other then the gender)? Some will argue and say no, but there are a few that may appear.
Most heroines tend to end up being the smarter counter part of the hero that follows emotions and has greater insight. The only characters that tend to be smarter then the heroine are the sage type characters. When it is just heroine is the main character, she may show more of her faults instead of being there to show the obvious faults of a hero. What is annoying that that people will restrict female heroes just because there female. They either end up the smart, beautiful yet weaker character, or end up as the hard-core, still beautiful and tactful character.
Again, people tend to lose the sight of adding human characteristics to the heroine. Just because she appears this way or acts that way doesn't mean that she is showing her full self to everyone. There is always more depth, even with the clearest bubble.
Now, here are a few questions to think about when creating your hero type character.
Quote: - Do the strengths and weaknesses of the hero balance each other? Does it make sense and is humanly possible? - What are the things the hero may struggle with? - What goal(s) does the hero have that motivates him/her? -Is he/she a actual hero, or a protagonist? - What difference is there between the hero and the villain other then attitudes towards others and the world? What do they have in common? - Is there something that the hero hides that would make them less hero-like?
The hero is a character that people will most identify with, but just because you want to identify with the hero doesn't mean they will be the reflection of you. Venture into personalities, attitudes and view points that you may not have considered about before. Just make sure your research is straight before you go off and type in the unknown.
When you don't want to be neither good nor evil, being neutral is the way to go. Most people will tend to want to be neutral since it gives you so many options and leaves it open to where you want to end up if you don’t know in the beginning. That is one of the more beauteous things about being a neutral character.
Now, many of you know what being 'neutral' is, so at least you should. But for the sack of it, a neutral character is a person that is neither good nor evil and tends to care and work for their own interests. Now, there are many classifications of neutral characters and anyone who has played role-play board games would know some of the few classifications. I'll list all that I know.
Quote: Good
Good Neutral
Good Chaotic
Neutral Good
Neutral
Neutral Chaotic
Chaotic Good
Chaotic Neutral
Chaotic Evil
I don't fully know the terms since I have still yet to enter the role-play board game that has them, but I can give you a general from what I’ve gathered.
Quote: Good: A just character into helping people and saving the day. A basic hero. Good Neutral: A neutral character that will work along side hero characters. Good Chaotic: A destructive character that will help the side of the hero or can be converted to evil. Neutral Good: Has self-interested that end up helping people. Neutral: Self-interest on just basic surviving. Neutral Chaotic: Self-interest that hurts others or causes destruction. Chaotic Good: A more kind character that helps the evil side or can be converted to good. Chaotic Neutral: A character of self means, but will work with the evil side. Chaotic Evil: A dark character strongly into raising of self or destruction. A basic Villain.
When people don’t want to be the hero or villain, which would be good and chaotic evil, they will end up being in any other classification because it gives them the opportunity to go in any direction.
Now, basic neutral characters tend to not feel strongly one way or the other about things. They have their own opinions, but avoid being part of a collective of similar opinions and interests; for they are more interested in self preservation and further their lives that going about with a group to do good or evil. They may end up banding together with other neutrals if it can further them in life and they have no interest in being good or evil as well.
The neutrals that are in most population are the simple innocent peasant folk that wander around their towns wishing for nothing more then to live another day. They don't wish to get involved in the on goings around unless it starts to effect them directly. Ironically enough, heroes and villains won't do anything till an event comes along to put them on their path. So every character will start off neutral till such a time when a character if effected by an event and decides to act on it.
To get from neutral to a hero or villain all depends on the conditions that are present, since things can happen to people, but they just think its apart of life and don’t bother to react in any way. Think about what makes your character so special that it ends up becoming a hero or a villain.
There isn't too much to a neutral character if they are a regular everyday person, it would just be the matter of making them realistic and believable. Other then that, you can just keep all the basic rules of character creation and the such in mind when creating a neutral character.
(More may be added in this section)
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:16 pm
Character creation (II): Questions to be asked.
The tool of the role-player
The character you play is very important. When you make your posts you have to think of how that character will respond to actions, words and thoughts of other characters. You have to think of what he/she would do. Because the character you role-play is the thing you need to know how a character should be made.
When you make a role-play character, ask these questions to yourself:
Questions 1.) Will this character relate to me? 2.) What weaknesses will he/she have? Are they similar to my own? 3.) What race is he/she and do they get any powers? 4.) What is their past like? Does it affect them? 5.) What are their flaws? Does it affect their actions? 6.) Do they have any family? 7.) What’s their personality? Is it like mine? How did their past affect their personality? 8.) Where to they live? Did it affect their past and personality? 9.) What’s their occupation? Does their personality fit it? 10.) Do they have extreme powers? Even though they haven’t been developed enough to use them?
Think of these things when you are making your character. Then, if you are entering a role-play, answer the profile questions. A lot of them will be set up in the way where you should answer the questions to the greatest of your ability.
A Simple Profile question Example:
Sample Name:
Age:
Race:
Appearance:
Personality:
History:
There are normally more questions then this in a literate role-play, but people who make the role-play will only make the profile questions to what they need for the role-play.
*TIP: Not everyone will accept "Unknown" or "Doesn't remember" For profile questions. Pay attention to the rules for the profiles.*
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:17 pm
Character Creation (Part III): Is your character real enough?
"What do you mean by real, Silme?" you may ask. Well, what I mean is, is your character real enough that people reading your posts can have some sort of relation to them are understand how they feel want that they are going through.
How do you make your character real, you may ask. It may seem hard, but as you get better if becomes easy.
Your character won’t start off good at everything and super powerful. They have to develop and grown like real life people. Every action they are going to do will affect them in some way, and depending on their personality, they will react to it.
How you are today is cause by your past, who you hang around with and what you have done. In real life I’m a shy person. I can’t talk to large amounts of people with my own opinions, like with a speech, or even talk on the PA system at school. But I can do plays and love the arts because I can become something or show the real me. Though thanks to my friends, I’m becoming more open to people, but I rarely talk upon a new meeting unless I know I will be seeing them more or we have found a common interest quickly. When I’m by myself, I become darker then what I seem to my friends, which they all believe is impossible for me to be.
Your character should be the same way. Their past should have had some affect on their personality, their personality should affect how they react to people and their friends should start slightly changing how they are. Who your character hangs around with will change them as the role-play progresses. Remember though, people are different by themselves then they are with a group of friends, and they act different with strangers then they do with friends.
3 Poor examples of realistic characters:
Examples All happy-go-lucky 24/7 though they've lost their whole family. It's impossible to be happy and smiling all the time. Have no emotion what's so ever, yet is human. Everybody feels. It's just how they show it is different. Friendly, open and free-willed, though is beaten by a parent and has few friends. Frankly, I doubt many people would ever be fully open and friendly if they are getting hurt.
Your character doesn't have to be like you either.
It would be more fun to try to be a character that's nothing like you at all. But don’t end up making a character you know truly nothing of. Let’s say you are a very happy Christian person that wears lively colours plays a Goth, which they don't really know anything of.
Example:
example "Hello... I don't go by the name my parents have given me. I go by Scarlet Death." She says in a dark lonesome voice as she played with the lip ring with her tongue and the earrings that went along the rim of her ears. She had a dark expression on her face before she looked back down at her black leather books. She wore all black clothing of course, with a trench coat on top.
I'm sorry to say, but that isn't real Goth. The real Goths were around centuries ago, and they were hard core Christians, not anti-Christ. Yes, they do wear black, but they wear silver crosses and such too. When role-playing, at least know something of that character. Through role-playing and such I learned what the stereotypes were before the people of today ruined what once was.
Something’s to think about to make your character more real:
Questions What is their worst school subject? Are they physically fit? Mentally fit? Have they studied the things they seem to know a lot about? Their age wound normally determine how wise they are and play part in their personality. What weather do they prefer? What time of day? Season? Do they like things like ordinary people? Do their strengths match up to what they can do and their role? Does having a loved one change them at all? What is it about them that common people can relate to?
These are just a few things, but you'll learn how to be more realistic when you start learning what a Mary-sue/ Grey-stu is.
When Making Your character...
Quote: When you make a character you what it to make sense. If your character is french but he'she knows all these languages without studying, it doesn't make much sense, mostly do to character background. Alot of people like to use Japanese slang, but even if you know it, it doesn't mean your character will, so I suggest not to use other languages that your character can use as slang unless they have studied into it or it is part of there background (e.g: A person who isJapanese knows Japanese slang).
*TIP: If you are going to make a character, make sure you know about the things you are putting down, like their occupation, their powers, their weapons, est. In serious role-plays, people will be able to tell how well you know the things you put for your character. Don't put something you know nothing about.*
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:44 pm
Other: How Mary-Sue/ Grey-Stu is your character?
(Only a suggestion area to help build up your character!)
What is Mary-sue/ Grey-stu? I’ll Tell you!
The Wikipedia description of Mary-Sue:
Mary Sue (sometimes shortened to Sue) is a pejorative term for a fictional character who is portrayed in an idealized way and who is generally lacking in any truly noteworthy flaws (or having her flaws romanticized, as is sometimes the case with stories about characters with eating disorders, depression, or other psychological conditions). Characters labelled Mary Sues, as well as the stories they appear in, are generally seen as wish fulfillment fantasies on the part of the author.
There are of course many kinds of Mary-Sues: (All these came from the Wikipedia)
Canon-Sues: canon characters who are changed into idealized stand-ins for a fan-fic author. Canon-Sues learn or are suddenly revealed to have powers or skills which make them substantially and unprecedented superior to the other characters. They have hobbies, likes and dislikes, and opinions that are never shown in canon and are the same as the author's own… (there’s more then that. See the wikipedia)
Romantic Sues: Romantic Sues are idealized versions of the author’s perfect lover, rather than of the author him or herself.
Anti-Sues: In an effort to create a character who is not a Mary Sue, an author will sometimes go to an extreme reversal of the typical "Mary Sue" traits.
Gary Stu: A male Mary Sue is often referred to as a Gary Stu (or, sometimes, Marty Stu, though both are understood to be the male equivalent of a Mary Sue). While female Mary Sues are often bright (literally and figuratively) and cheerful, Gary Stus are generally much darker, tending more toward brooding and violent behaviour (there’s more to it. See the wikipedia)
It’s kind of hard not to be a Mary-Sue in some form, but don’t completely fret about it. As you become a better role-play (or writer), your characters will become more real and soon you won’t always have to ask yourself all these questions on how much a mary-sue your character is. When you get it, it’s all opinion of others.
Here are tests and Essays on Mary-Sues:
Tests:
http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/otto/grayswandir/mary-sue-test.html
http://www.katfeete.net/writing/marysue.html
What’s a Mary-Sue?
http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1440163
http://www.fosff.net/viewstory.php?sid=1103
It’s not always bad to be a Mary-sue, but be careful. Serious role-players will get on your butt about your role-play ability if you have a mary-sue character.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:46 pm
Writing Goods and Bads- Role-playing.
Post Set up
making your post
Some people have no idea how to make a proper post. They either miss use of four-shadowing, red-herring, or even not doing proper paragraphs. I haven't seen any threads that show how to properly set up a paragraph, so I'll show you.
As anyone who has done English knows, you always have a topic sentence. One that starts everything off. In essays and such you always have to relate back to it, in novel writing you don't always have to, but the first sentence is still very much important.
In the first paragraph is information that is all relative to each other. If say you are describing a character, his/her hair, eyes and clothing, that would all be in one paragraph, or a few without spacing unless you describe parts of the character as you go. Now the part a lot of people tend to get wrong at times, (illiterates excessively) is when to make a new paragraph. There are several ways in doing so:
1.)If the next thing isn't the same as describing the characters appearance, but their personality, you don't have to have a space between the two paragraphs. They are still describing the character, just on a different thing.
2.) If it's a different idea all together, like a new event came up that the character is going to respond to, it becomes it's own paragraph which means a space will be in between the two paragraphs.
3.) When characters speak there will be their own paragraphs depending on how it's done. This is slightly trickier, and it's easier seen by reading a book but I'll use come examples of when to make paragraphs with speech.
Quote: "Where are we off to now, Kozai?" Saleen asked looking up at him with concern in her eyes. "Are we leaving town?" She felt his hand grip harder on her small wrist. "Brother? What’s going on?"
There was no need for a spaced paragraph here. The character was still talking. You can only do this once though. A second action is put into a new paragraph if she's going to continue talking like shown, but that's from my experience.
Quote: "Don't ask questions, Saleen!" Kozai replied, dragging his little sister along. "We have to keep moving!" "But brother!" "Don't question me!" He barked.
In this one there is three paragraphs. That's because the characters speech is broken up, which makes it a new idea putting it in a new paragraph, but not spaced. Some people get the general just of this one easily.
Quote: "Listen to me Saleen," Kozai turned to his sister, kneeling down to her level. "There's something important I have to tell you, and now is the time since I do not know if I will be able to stay with you." 'For a long time now our village has been enslaved by the daekun's of the northern realm and been plundering our fields and lands for everything. The village elder made a deal with them that once a month we'd give them a offering of our field work. Because of the little rain we had this spring we had no food to offer so we offered up our possessions and now we don't even have that. They've come to take the children now, Saleen. It's the only thing they know we hold close." 'It's important you get away from here and go south. Don't look back, and don't try to come back for me. I promised Grandfather I'd protect you, but I can't now. Go to Aunt Millia's in Hitsei town. You'll be safe there."
This isn't the greatest example, but it works anyways. A lot of people will get this part wrong. Just because your character is speaking, doesn't mean it will be in one big paragraph. If you look in novels, if the character speaks for a long time, the speech is broken up into paragraphs. Some people get it, but then they end up doing another thing that they don't have to do.
If the character does no action between the speech in the very beginning of the new paragraph you don't have to add a " at the beginning of the new paragraph. If you look at most novels where there is a long speech done by one character that isn't broken up by action, you'll see that the author only uses ' at the beginning of the new paragraph. That just means he's still talking and nothing has interrupted that character.
4.) Time ellipse is mostly shown through paragraphs. When there has been a time change or a setting change in a single post, there will be a large gap between the two paragraphs and the new one will start of with either "The next day" "Later that day" "The following night" or if its with a setting change with a new character you start like it's a new story. If it’s a passage of time, you can use stars in a fashion like below.
e.g.:
***
It shows you had a large passing of time, like a year, or went to a new character. People don't have much of a problem with that one.
5.) The content can be anything as long as there is unity and clarity. And when you conclude your post, it should be a small sum of what happened. The character could be reflecting on his actions or feelings as long as it sums if up. It's normally done in a single sentence, but the max of sentences you should use to sum it up is three.
Remember not to add too much in it so it's chaotic and unable to read.
Example of Bad:
Example A young man was walking as he flipped his red hair. The sun shining down on him, his smile showing is happy-go-lucky personality. There was a festival her was going to and he was meeting a friend. He heard though it would rain so he wore is leather boots.
That's trying to describe everything which makes it hard on the reader to follow correctly and difficult to keep up with.
Good Example:
Quote: The sun set warm rays down toward the earth. Brightly it shined the sky as it over looked the lands. Clouds where slowly floating by it, more and more coming each time. From their greyness it would seem that it may rain later that very day. Quite a pity. "It's too bad," a voice of a man rang out clearly in the air. "I was hoping for a sun all day." A young man was walking down a dirt road toward town under the watch of the sun. His hair gave off a soft golden glow, making his yellow hair shine. He raised a hand, covered by a black glove to brush away some loose strands from his bright, sea-blue eyes. Fair was his face, tanned with only a small scratch upon his cheek. He had a rounded chin with square features, and his body structure was hidden under neith is dark steel grey cloak. From the looks of it he was of a heavy built which would match is six foot height. Through all his looks though, he wasn't a dangerous man, but far from it. He's a more peaceful type and always likes to help. Most would look at him and think of him as a machine built to destroy and fight, but he mostly enjoys doing normal things like any other person. It's because of that he's going to town today. There's a festival going on in the town he's heading to. A friend of his told him about it and said it would be fun to check it out. He had no idea what the festival was going to be about, but he said he'd meet up with his friend anyways and see what’s happening.
This example is longer, but it's more enjoyable to read for the serious role-player because it shows you are serious too. It shows setting, weather, what the character thinks, his personality and his appearance. This doesn’t meet Elite levels though.
6.) You are doing what some may call “Text role-playing” in small/large groups of people or one-on-one. The important rule of role-playing with others is not to puppet their characters that they have made unless they say so. This happens a lot in fighting role-plays since so many semi-lit role-players don’t know how to role-play properly. Here’s an Example:
Quote: *He dodges Cales’ sword, then grabs his wrist and throws him down on the ground and stabs him, killing him instantly* I Win!
Frankily… people who do this scare me to the point where I want to kick their asses in real life, along with a good slap. That is not a role-play fight. True fully, I wouldn’t call it fighting at call. I call it making stupid random shots of nothingness. Truth be told, I once role-played like that at the time the group I was role-playing with was at that level too. The good part was, if I fought anyone that did a higher level of role-play (Like using grammar, spelled out words and paragraphs) I followed to be just as good and the way I used to role-play I truly despise. If you are that kind of role-player, but you read up to this far, then I don't despise you. If you have read up to here, it proves you are trying to be a better role-player, even if this is just a simple, small step. Sometimes the simple steps are the big ones though.
Here's a something closer true fighter’s post:
Quote: He took a step back, preparing to make their counter. Gripping their blade loosely in their right hand and readying their left, he watched as their opponent came for them with their attack. He turned himself to the side, trying to avoid the stab as best as possible, only being nicked by the edge of the blade in his side. He reached out to grab his opponent's wrist, so if he can grab it, he can pull his opponent forward and hit his ankle to make them loose their balance and fall, and if it works, he’ll bring down his blade and win the fight.
That post is on the literate side of it. It's quite simple, but better then the last one. People think that text role-play is like making your own story. In a way it is, but you are doing it with other people. You have to think realistically. You can’t dodge every single bloody move your opponent throws at you. In real life you can get nicked a few times and get knocked down. Also remember. The longer the battle, the more tired you’ll get. So when doing battles it’s important to keep the basic rules in mind of proper role-playing.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:47 pm
Bring in the Realism!
Make it life-like
When people are role-playing, they don't think much on realism. They mostly over look it in everyway, going to the simplest forms they can think of to describe anything. Another way people don't do realism is completely over look it and over exaggerate everything in some way or form. I made up A.M.A.I. The A.M.A.I is four main groups where realism is either in simplest form to the point it's n00bish, or over exaggerated where you look to be god-moding. They are:
Appearance of Character
Movement of Character
Abilities of Character
Intelligence of Character
Appearance of Character
When comes to appearance people tend to be simple. It's not good to over bare the description of the appearance with a bunch of little details that will be over looked and never noticed. Yet people go for the simplest way to describe a character, which normally ends up as a Mary-Sue.
Example:
Quote: A girl gracefully walks into a bar. Her beauty is that of a dream and beyond compare, just like a snow white!
This isn't acceptable what so ever. Comparing your appearance to someone that exists is normally mary-sueing, especially if that person or character is considered to be beautiful to many people. Other wise, this may be too simple for most good role-plays since it doesn't have much description in anyway what so ever. This character you are describing is your own creation. Be more detailed then that!
Example:
Quote: A young woman, not more then eight-teen by her appearance, walked into the bar. Her completion of her skin was pale, much like snow. Her night black hair flowed around her delicate, rounded shoulders and it waved down her back. She scanned the room with her lively deep, blue eyes, wondering if she’ll find anything of worth here.
This is a fair example of what you should do. You can go into more description, like the way they walk in, their expression, poise, and so on, yet too much description can make a person very distracted when reading, and skip half of your text that you have typed up. This mostly occurs when serious role-plays come join threads that are fairly laid back and not much typing is required.
Example:
Quote: A young woman came through the old wooden door, listening to it creep open with a "creek". She took on small step after another, gliding along elegantly like a swan on a lake. Her soft foot steps could barely be heard among the chatter in the bar and the creaking of the old, dirty oak floor boards. She weaved through the chairs and men, most of them seeming to be ogling at her and whistling, which she despised since as a woman, she didn't want to be looked and thought of in such a way. She kept her hands to herself, firmly folded in front of her and hiding under the long, bell-like white sleeves of her red and white maiden floor length dress. The rim of the dress swept at the floor with her every step as she finally decided to take a seat at a far off table. Her long, flowing raven black hair fell about her, brushing along the sides of her snow pale face. She let her deep blue eyes look around at the interior of the bar, the colours of them becoming lively from catching the light of the table candles.
This is more to what the more serious role-players like to do and see. If more people can achieve this, it would make it a more interesting read. Sure, it's long, but sometimes it has to be long to catch the reader’s eyes. Sometimes though, the long posts get over looked. Why? Because some people are just too lazy to read. Some just read the important parts that pop out at them and make a reply off that is 50%-75% of the time doesn't make much sense.
Note: Appearance should match the time and setting of the role-play. Your character can't be wearing today’s clothing if it's in the renaissance era.
Movement of Character
"Oh look! The guy in the matrix caught a bullet! I can do that too!" Big wrong. Sure, when role-playing it's not really you, but lets be realistic here. No one in really life can actually catch a bullet when it’s shot at them without real warning.
Realistic movement is important within a role-play. You don't have to be overly descriptive of it, just realistic. Your joints can only bend so far and your bones can handle only so much. You can't just say that because you a demon, the weight of a rock falling from a height of, lets say a sky scraper, crashes down on you and doesn't do squat. It would have some sort of strain on your bones and muscles.
Most movement problems come when fighting to avoid anything coming at them. If something was coming straight at you, like a bullet, at a faster speed then you are able to move, you’d still get hit, even if you move to the side slightly. If a punch came at you though, you may have the ability to dodged, block or counter.
When thinking of having your character make a move though, think of what your character can and cannot do. If they made a move that they have never done before and never had practise at, like a back flip, they should most likely either fall on their head or become unbalanced. Rarely should you make your character be able to do things by fluke.
Example:
Quote: Never has Gerald been an athletic person. He hated everything that dealt with gym in every way. He hated all sports. In air, in water, or on land, on wheels or on foot, he never did a single thing. Do to lack of activity though, he is fairly big. In gym today though, he plough through all the guys like lightning in football from one end of the field to the other and made a touch down.
This isn't realistic one little big. If someone never did any sports or athletics, they’d be sluggish, loss of energy, and have little to no endurance. If a guy was large and was like that, he'd have a hard time playing a foot ball game, and he wouldn’t be able to run that fast and knock everyone down without being out of breath nearly an eighth of the way. It just doesn't work!
Example:
Quote: Gerald started to regret ever coming onto the school bus that day. His couch phoned home to ask his mom about all the excuse notes Gerald kept bringing to get out of gym. It was all over when he heard his mom say "What excuse notes?" He only had an in school suspension since his mom made the gym teacher more sympathetic in their favour, but he wasn't allowed to get out of gym that day. Gerald hated gym. If he had the choice to die or do gym, he'd pick death since gym will kill him anyways, only painfully. He wasn't athletic in anyway. He hated sports, no matter what it was. Could even be something as simple as catch and he’d hate it. Yet do to this hatred of sports, he was extremely unhealthy. He had no endurance, people thought he was as big as a baby blue whale, and he never stood more then 10 minutes. It was his first time he stepped onto the schools field since the day he faked passing out to get out of track and field. He watched as two students started to pick the teams (him being the last one to be picked behind Puck the nerdoid). He stood at the end of the row of his team mates, barely listening to the quarter back calls. When they went off ramming each other Gerald just stood there. Then the unlikely happened. Gerald turned and the ball came right for him. He reacted with out really knowing it. His hands reached up to protect his face, and caught the ball. He all most thumbled, but turned to run anyways. He had the ball! Yet, after a few short paces, he breathed heavily and became sluggish. Soon all his breath dissipated and he toppled over as a group of boys dog piled on him. He wished he could get out of gym for the rest of his life.
This is a fairly long sample, and takes a while to get to the point, but gives you the idea of how the character reacts. Because of his health, he would tire out easily, and since he doesn't play sports, he would barely catch the ball and begin to thumble it. By having realistic movement to match your character, it makes it more believable and more of an interesting read for fellow role-players. Sometimes it makes the difference between a good role-play and a bad role-play.
Fighting
Fighting is also a type of movement that requires blocking dodging and hitting. It’s also a movement with weapons.
With every punch, kick and slash your character will slow down no matter want, weather the character is making the hits, or blocking them. In real life, the best athlete will become sluggish after a day of running, jumping, swimming and throwing and they aren't even getting kicked or punched (unless it's foot ball or rugby or something). If your character gets hit, they will recoil, have a moment of being stunned and then recover slightly and retaliate.
With punches and kicks you'll get bruises and broken bones which will slow you down by causing pain. When you punch or kick back you are using up your own energy, and that will slow you down if your opponent is able to block a few.
Example: (Boxing setting)
Quote: A: The bell rings and each boxer prepare to take on the other. The boxer in the black trunks throws a punch into the face of the boxer in the red trunks. B: Red recoils, yet quickly hits black in the stomach, then face, forgetting about his bleeding nose.
Who forgets their nose is bleeding? It hurts! Especially if it’s broken! And you don’t quickly recover like that that you didn’t get a second hit from the other guy. It doesn’t work. This is mostly true in street fights. The opposing person won’t wait for you to get up. They’ll keep charging you till you’re knocked out, or even dead.
Example:
Quote: A: The red trunks boxer recoils from the punch, feeling a sharp pain throb through out his nose. As he felt a warm liquid run over his upper lip, he knew he was bleeding. B: The black boxer watches as the red one steps back from his hit. He would have to recover from that one, so he decided to leave no time and went for another punch in the head. A: He went to take stance again, yet another hit in the head from a upper diagonal brought him to one knee. Blindly, with a huff of breath and a throbbing head, the red trunks boxer flung his gloved fist upward in hopes to catch the other boxer off guard. It only slightly work, for he only caught him slightly across the chin, but gave him enough time to struggle to his feet before the next hit.
This is slightly more realistic then before. The boxer being hit is becoming weak from the punches. He's probably dizzy and his eyes are out of focus from that one punch to the head. If the fight had continued, the chances of the red boxer winning would be low since within that first paragraph, he wasn’t able to avoid the punches, head a broken nose, and blindly went for a punch, wasting energy.
***
Fighting with weapons is slightly different then hand-to-hand combat. Your character is wielding something, and the weapon would normally be fairly heavy depending on what it is.
Most weapons on the more metal blades and maces side will be heavier. Most swords of flat, sharp blades, or broad blades are quite heavy, and depending on the metal made for them, some are heavier then others. Maces and war axes are normally heavier then a sword (except a broad sword. Example: Nightmare’s sword from Soul Calibre 2-3). Small weapons, like daggers, arrows and shurikens aren’t heavy, but aren't too great in a proper duel.
In all weapons though, they need energy to be able to wing and make a slice or hit in a person. Swordsmen/women have to be able to cut through the air, handle the strain of a block, stab and counter with their weapons. They need to be well balanced in order to wield a blade properly. If someone knew nothing but a dagger, and tried to wield a four foot steel sword, they wouldn’t be able to lift it. If an axe men tried to use a bow and arrow, their aim would be completely off.
Example:
Quote: It was Sulmen's first day with a real sword since training. His master told him that a real sword was much heavier then the training weapons, and that he'd have to practise a bit. He grabs the hilt of the sword and swung it around. It wasn't as hard as his master said it was. He could stab and slice and make clean cuts easily. This sword was fair easier to lift then anything else.
Can you see the mistake here? Even with previous training, if you never trained with a real sword, you wouldn't begin to wield it like a pro. Most may fall when training to swing a sword for the first time do to the weight and how they cut at the wind.
Example:
Quote: Sulmen grumbled as he hunched low. He was trying to lift the sword his master gave him to practise with. He has already grasped the hilt, just getting it more then a foot off the ground was the tricky part. The blade was four to five inches wide, length was, only about three and a half feet. Yet Sulmen never lifted a sword before, and even with all his training, it was still too heavy for him. He put all his leg muscles into it, remembering that if he used his back muscles, he'd only hurt himself. He twirled around as best as he could to swing the blade, but it only lifted from the ground about an inch, left Sulmen's grip, and made him fall backwards onto his a**.
This is closer to what should happen if your character never lifted a real weapon before. After a while, your character should be used to that weapon, and he/she'd normally be better at that one weapon then another.
This concept can also be related to guns. Smaller guns may look easier to shot, but if you started with a large shot gun, a pistol may throw you off in your aim and vice versa. They only way your character could know how to use each weapon is if they pacifically trained in using it.
Wounds from swords or guns will weaken the character the most though. People always take the realism away in this part. Someone gets a cut near an important organ, or the organ gets pierce, but act like nothing happened. I don't care if your character if a vampire or demon, they will still feel a lot of pain if an important organ gets hit and they can even get paralyzed if a blade or bullet goes straight through their spine.
With sword or gun wounds, they will cause more pain and make the character more sluggish since the character is loosing blood and has to carry a weapon. Blocking will also be hard since you are using a weapon and the opponent will be putting a lot of power into slicing while you have to use a lot of strength or keep yourself up and holding back the person.
Example:
Quote: A: I'm in the mist of a battle. I charge at my opponent with all my might, ready to slash down upon him. B: As he comes at me, I bring up my blade for the block, steadying myself. Once I felt his full force go into his blade and turned to the side to let him fall forward and stab him through the side straight at the spin. A: I quickly regained balance without any problem when I felt the blade enter my body, but I swiftly swung my blade around and struck him in the shoulder…Est.
When wounds do nothing, it's known as god-moding. It's mostly seen in sword and magic fights. Fighter B would have had some strain done on his body from the force of fighter A which could have caused his knees and elbows to buckle. Also, fighter B would have had trouble turning to the side, since it requires him to push fighter A slightly to the side as well.
Fighter A should have fell to at least on a knee when fighter B went to the side since the force he put into his attack would have cause him to fall if B moved aside. While on the ground, he wouldn’t have been able to get up in time to avoid fighter B's attack, and would have died within a second since it pierced right into his spin.
Example:
Quote: A: I begin to run toward my opponent, keeping my blade close to my body so the wind won’t slow me down. As I come upon my opponent I swing my blade diagonally down ward upon him, using gravity as a factor in this first strike. With enough power, if he blocked, I could at least bring him to his knees. B: I watch as my opponent comes at me for his first slice at me. I prepare myself for a block or counter, depending on the happening. I raise my blade and block his blade, hearing the clang ring in my ears. I can feel my knees buckle under me from my opponents force. Be for the full weight of the strike can come, I put my own force forward, bringing myself to the side and forcing my opponent beside me. I went to stab with my blade, and if he was unable to block or dodged, my blade would strike through his side and sever his spin. A: I stared down at my opponent, and for a moment I felt weightless, then gravity started to pull me down. My opponent moved out of the way, using my own force along with his to put me aside and make me fall. I landed on my knees and a hand. Yet as I started to turn, I felt the pierce of his cold blade enter my body and make its way to my spin. Then I knew the fight was over, and everything went black.
Now that is better. Do to trying to be realistic, it makes the posts longer, but it also makes them better to. There’s nothing wrong in losing a fight or having your character killed. You are able to make another one, it’s not like you are getting killed. The good points in this example are that each one realised the force each one was putting into their attacks and how their reaction time would be.
*Note: Fighting isn’t much restricted in an rp, but sometimes it depends on where the role-play is taking place and how the creator feels about it.
Abilities of Character
Every character will normally have something they prevail at. The worst thing to do is to make your character prevail at everything or at nothing at all. Those that prevail at everything tend to be those that also god-mode and other such things that good role-players hate.
Example:
Quote: Suzie was the most popular girl at school. She was good with people and friendly, and could help anyone. She was excellent at flute, piano and guitar and she had a beautiful singing voice. She's the best and most valuable player on the soccer, tennis, and volleyball team and the head cheer leader. She can fix any computer and bake just about anything. She has the highest grade average in the school…
Yeah… One person can't be good at that many things! I'm sorry! Just leave something for someone else. People in real life are not good at that many things and be the very best at it all. I know a person who doesn’t play sports well, but excels in sciences and math. I know of another person that hates math and sports, yet excels in art and music. Sure, you may have the one person who is in student council, school present, and does sports. I had one like that. They weren't a captain or most valuable player on any team though. Depending on your characters personality, they'll mostly excel at the things they like and enjoy or know they can do. Sometimes they don’t always get good grades in things they like.
Example:
Quote: Laura always wanted to dance. Her best work had been in the arts, her drama ruling them all. Yet dancing was one thing she couldn't do but always wanted too. She wanted to take private lessons so she wouldn’t get laughed at do to her lack of skill, but she had to go take the class at school. She explained to the teacher her situation on the first day, and the teacher agreed to help her. She knew it will be hard for her, but she'll try anyways.
A girl who has to face hard ship to do something she loves even though she's no good. It's always interesting to have your character train at something they struggle with. The struggle of a character is always interesting to read about.
Now those are just samples of actual real life abilities. Such rules apply to magic as well, which will be explained in the magic section. Just remember that your character shouldn’t be able to do everything with out ever having training at it or being an ability they enjoy doing or learned of.
Intelligence of Character
We all wish to be smart and know everything, yet it takes a long time to do so. We have to go through school for several years, and even after high school and collage/university, we still take work shops and so on to learn even more.
Your character can't magically be smart with out ever learn from someone or reading any book. You mostly have to think of the history of that character and who they are in the role-play. If they are a present during the 1500’s, they wouldn't know didly squat about reading, or writing or math. They wouldn't even have been to school since it was meant for royalties.
People don't have much trouble in the intelligence department for their characters since they tend to go with what they know, yet sometimes it’s good to remind yourself how intelligent your character would be in different situations.
For example; if you never went to school any day of your life and your parents only taught you the basic grade one stuff, you wouldn’t be able to answer a collage question perfectly and get all the marks. It makes no sense what so ever.
Example:
Quote: A: Amor knew these lands well. She had traveled through them for a great deal of time, yet she never came this far into the woods. As the moments drifted by of listening to their feet falling on the ground, she realized that they have become lost. B: Dial had never been here before, nor has he ever heard of it, yet he already knew they were becoming lost. Even if he wasn't outdoors a lot, he could find their way back by the way the moss grew on the trees and the breeze that passes through. He eventually found their way back.
It's interesting, is in it? Dial never read a single book previously to what he knows, nor has he any experience. Amor knew the lands up to the point. She'd be able to find their way back, though with quite a hard effort to do so. You should never have your character know things if he hasn't experienced it, and you haven't mentioned anything in your character profile.
Of course, there is a different between your character being brilliant and idiotic. If your character is a comic in the role-play and he only says he knows when he doesn’t and people believe him, it makes interesting events. Never let them know things if they didn’t have experience.
Example:
Quote: B: Dial watched Amor wander about. After a while when she stopped and looked around, he realized what she had a while ago. They were lost. When she asked if he knew where they came from to get here, he just simply looked around and guessed a random direction. "We came from there!" he said with confidence. A: Amor decided to follow Dials point out. He was most likely wrong considering the look on his face showed the stupidity behind that brave exterior. They wandered for quite some time in that direction, but soon Amor decided to follow some forest signs to get back home. Wasn't till late night fall that they actually got home.
Amor has the more experience as seen. Dial just thinks what may be right and points it out stupidly, which makes things harder on the characters. Frankly I'd rather things be harder on the characters then easier, since making things easier in role-playing is no fun.
Remember, Realism is important. With every action, it will have some sort of effect on you character. The more realistic you are, the more fun it may be.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:48 pm
Practise Role-play!
Prepare to type it up!
Well boys and girls, it's time to practise your role-play ability! This is a chance for you to make a role-play type most and ask for help on anything you think you did wrong or are not very strong at!
Note: I'll be changing the plot every so often so people can have a sample of different role-play plots that could be possible. I'll have a plot that will try practise on each point.
Practise Theme: Medieval Fantasy Setting.
Practise Plot 1: For description of entrance and appearance.
Quote: There is a street filled with people of plain, yet colourful clothing. The women wore floor length dresses with cloaks as the men mostly wore tops and pants with cloaks as well. It's a small town you have entered, and you are right now at the town square. It goes in a circle around a statue surrounded by water filled with koi fish. There is a bar called "Trinity Sand Bar". It appeared to be much like one of the old bars. Wooden door, grey stone walls, and smoke coming from the chimney. You can hear the music and laughter from inside. Seemed much like a welcoming place.
Task: You came into town and you are going into the bar. This is to practise your role-play skills on entrance and the appearance of the character.
Practise Plot 2: For realism in movement and ability.
Quote: You are riding your horse in the middle of the night through a down poor. You have been traveling most of the day and haven't seen town yet. Unfortunately along the way, you angered some bandits that tried to swipe gold from a defenceless man and his wife that were trying to get home. You are at a disadvantage though. You can't see anything before you on the path, and you know that there are tree roots and rocks your horse can trip on. The bandits had torches with them, and they, as well as their horses, weren't as exposed to the weather as you and your horse are. The bandits are staying together so they can light the way for those preparing to fire arrows at you. You can't last out here for long since you can feel your horse becoming weak under you. You have your sword, but you are not fully trained with it yet.
Task: It'll be hard to get away on the path. Your open to the weather, you have arrows coming at you, you can't see anything in front of you and your horse is coming to the end of it's energy. You may end up having to use a poor lack of sword play in order to get away.
Practise Plot 3: Magic use
Quote: You were traveling to town one morning. The sun was raising with the birds singing to greet the new day. As you walked along the dirt road you noticed that the cavern you have to walk through was blocked by boulders. They must have fallen during that violent storm those few days ago. There was another path you could take, but it would take you a day and a half to get to town if you decide to follow it. Signing you put your stuff down. Other then climbing over the large rock wall, your only other option is to use your magic, which you are only learning in at the moment. But what else can you do?
Task: You have to move the rock wall before you with a type of magic. What type of magic you use you go with is up to you. What ever you go with though will effect you physically and mentally.
((More to come))
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:51 pm
Monsters and Their Weaknesses
By Runefox
Most roleplays have creatures or monsters that the characters must face. Whether your foe is an android soldier or a goblin horde, there must be strengths and weaknesses that they possess. I have listed a few types of creatures, and the pros and cons of each. I hope it will help you.
Animalistic Creatures
While usually not bound by any sort of code of honor or rules, animals are like berserker warriors. They cannot involve themselves in intricate tactics, ambushes, and battle plans.
Robots and Cyborgs
Although robots and cyborgs can have sophisticated and powerful battle software and weaponry, robots cannot judge like humans can. They cannot make split-second decisions. Not to mention that both cyborgs and robots are vulnerable to technological malfunctions, computer viruses, and the like.
Humanlike Creatures
Ogres, Trolls, Anthros, and Giants fall into this category, as well as several other races and species. They can grip and use weapons, they have power on their side, and they are smart enough to use tactics. Their problem? As ungallant as it may seem, here it is; they can be tripped from the ground, they have humanlike emotions, and thus they can be thwarted. If one threatens a human, they feel fear. Inspire fear into these creatures, and they can slip up, making fatal mistakes and errors.
More Species Coming Soon!
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