New to roleplaying?-Tips

[broken_bleeding_angel]

This is basically just a re-post of the guide I have in my own guild.

u nd i

A big thank you to Lieutenant Shotgun, creator of the original thread.
Most of these tips will be quoted from her and other experienced roleplayers.
I have edited most of Shotgun's stuff with my own thoughts as well.

What is Roleplaying?
Roleplaying is simply the act of taking on the role of a character and acting out a situation.

People do it for a number of reasons. It stimulates the mind, improves teamwork when working in large groups, develops creative writing skills etc.

If you roam around Barton Town of the RP sub-forum, you will get a feel of what it means to roleplay. Here are some basic tips and etiquette to help you.

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

Step One - Making a Profile/Applying for the Roleplay

Most roleplays have some kind of profile to fill out if you want to join in. It is just like an application.

And important thing to remember when you do this is that most hosts of a roleplay like you to PM the profile to them, it saves cluttering the thread. This is usually verified in the rules of profile section of a roleplay though, it changes from thread to thread.

Lieutenant Shotgun

This is a basic profile code. You should copy and paste it then fill it out.

DO NOT MAKE YOUR OWN PROFILE CODE IF THERE IS ONE POSTED. You can edit it, HOWEVER. You may NOT make the profile smaller. You can add fields, such as "physics" (the character's appearance in depth) or "other" (miscellaneous [misc] information]

Username: (your username)
Character name:
Age:
Personality:
History:
Relationship: (or crush)
Appearance: (or looks like, or pic)
Other:

The following posts will show a good way to fill it out.

And now for filling it in...

Lieutenant Shotgun

Steps

Now I will show you step by step how to fill it out. Profile codes vary, so if you need help, ask me in this thread (when I'm done) or in a PM.

Username: (your username)
Character name:
Age:
Personality:
History:
Relationship: (or crush. This can also mean family relationships at times.)
Appearance: (or looks like, or pic)
Other:

1. Username
What's my username? Lieutenant Shotgun (Or me, Ananobot!). You would put your username in this field.

2. Character name
The name of the character. Be original; don't use an already made character's name. You should always include a last name. (Sometimes it is a good idea to put a nickname here as well if you want one, eg. Nicholas "Nick" Jones.)

3. Age
Never leave this empty, or say unknown! It's annoying; all you have to do is type a number. (Unless it is suitable for the genre, such as fantasy where characters have longer life spans.)

4. Personality
Your characters temperament. Be detailed. Don't say mix, or "bright and happy." Delve into the charcter's psyche. You should make this at least two sentences long.

5. History
The most hated part of a profile! Never, EVER, say "she doesn't remember her past." That is THE noobiest excuse EVER. Even if they forgot, something must have happened. Can't come up with something? Steal something from a movie or book (not another profile!) and make it your own. This should be around three sentences long. Preferably more.

6. Relationship
Crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses. If they don't have a boyfried, crush, or spouse, write "None yet" or "None yet, but he/she is hoping." Something to the affect of that. You can also include any family relationships such as "close to sister, hates mother."

7. Other
The easiest but most often left empty field. You need to add something here. Let us know more about him/her.

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

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Here is an example of a detailed, wholesome profile.
Thank you to Broken for this masterpiece!

broken_bleeding_angel

Gaian Name: broken_bleeding_angel
Character Name: Amaya
Full Name: Amaya Delnacurose
Nick Name(s): Amaya
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Birthdate:
Hair: Long, rich brown
Eyes: Silver/light blue
Origin: UnderKilkin
Language: Krechin (english)
Blood Type: RH negative
Height: 5' 7.5"
Weight/Body Structure: Hourglass, but well tonned
Race/Species: nemus homo sapien
Parents: King and Queen of UnderKilkin
Siblings: None
Beliefs/Religion: She believes that the earth and her are one.
Career/Past Careers: Mercenary, Princess, Forest guide
Hobbies: Collecting herbs, playing with the creafin ( earth horses)
Likes: sleeping, fireflies, butterflies, travelling
Loves: sleeping, dreaming, night, the forest
Dislikes: goo, ugly men, orcskeans ( beans)
Loathes: The dark ones.
Fears: Naerflaxes (giant monsters)
Strengths: healing, speaking with nature
Weakness: her curiosity
Good Qualities: She speaks her mind and is often kind and caring.
Bad Habits: She tends to wander off.
Turn Ons: Hot men with out shirts
Turn Offs: ignorance, vanity
Powers/Abilities/Talents: She can heal herself and others. She can talk to trees and plants.
Temperament: Fairly calm till startled or frightened.
Picture Reference:
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g176/broken_bleeding_angel/sexy girls/danbooru_unf-p-113739229149744.jpg

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

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If you have been accepted into the roleplay, keep in mind these thoughts as well.

Lieutenant Shotgun

In the roleplay

Now we move on! You have been accepted and can roleplay.

Oh, s**t! What should you do?

Here are some tips.

Be as literate as possible. Don't use chatspeak. It is TERRIBLE. Take the time to write posts properly.

Use correct punctuation. Misplacement of a comma or colon can result in a big misunderstanding. If you don't use quotation marks ("), use a color or bold it.

This is an example by Faretheewell of how important commas are.

"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Make thoughts italics (i). Don't use a smaller font or quotation. Quotation is for TALKING.

Don't be dramatic. Angst and stuff gets OLD. (Unless it is suitable for the situation.)

Don't make secret plans unless you talked with the roleplay's creator. I hate trying to figure things, when I should know because I'm the creator of something. D8<

You shouldn't put your character's picture in your posts every time unless you have cropped and/or resized it. (Use photobucket.) Let's face it, nobody appreciates page stretching.

If it's a roleplay that calls for partnership, don't just create one part, or both and make the character like each other. Make it interactive; have another player do that part, and have romance with them.

Now, romance. Don't pair your character up with another character of yours. It's not fun to watch, and no one else can take part. Pair up with another person before hand if you have to. And don't forget, if it's over PG-13, take it to PMs!

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

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Here are some valuable pointers from experienced Roleplayers!

faretheewell

Staying in character.

After you write your character profile, that is the character you play. Your character needs to react according to their established personality, and their history must remain consistent.

A quiz. Which of the following examples shows a player writing in character?

a)Personality: Jane is shy and withdrawn. She prefers her own company most of the time.

*

Jane skipped up to the other students. "Good morning everyone!" she said brightly.

b)Personality: Jane is shy and withdrawn. She prefers her own company most of the time.

*

Jane hugged the book to her chest, staring at her shoes as she passed the group of students standing around the door. She hunched her shoulders and didn't speak to any of them.

broken_bleeding_angel

Posting Before You're Ready!:

It is considered rude to post in a role play that the maker is not finished making. If the maker posts [DNP]{Do Not Post} or [PDP]{Please Don't Post}, it usually means that they are not done yet and do not want you posting in the thread until they are finished.

Yes I understand if you're excited to start right away and it feels like you are going to pee your pants in excitement, but you can wait. And on that note, please don't pm the maker telling them to hurry up or ask them questions while they're still making the thread, it's very rude and it distracts them from what they are doing.

Also!

On a note about large profiles such as the ones posted above. It is rude to complain about filling out the profile that the maker has given you.
Large profiles, such as mine, are great for covering every aspect of a character. It fills in the aspects of that person you are creating that you don't normally think about. Like an alternate personality, you need to know every aspect of this other you.

Here is an example of a complaint I had.

complainer

broken_bleeding_angel

complainer

i have another question. why do you need to know so much information about characters? like why does it matter what blood type a character is?

Because it covers a lot that most people don't think about. It makes them a real person instead of just bob who likes turkey and can fly. =3=

that actually makes a lot of sense lol i like how u think blaugh

The more you add to a profile, the more real this person seems.

I think this shall be all for now. I'll post later when I can think of more.

Lieutenant Shotgun

Don't just jump in with a friendly "hello."

When you join a roleplay that has already started, read, or skim over, the last two posts so you have an idea what's going on.

In The Magic Within, a bunch of characters are staying in my character's house. Like, three people have tried to just jump in like they own the place. You can't do that. You have to get in the house--like a thief, knock on the door, get invited, whatever.

Same goes for conversations. You can't just jump in. Begin with "excuse me" and tap someone's shoulder, or something. You just can't randomly say something.

faretheewell

It depends on the roleplay for me. I like to pick roles that will challenge me to do something different, and so I end up doing about 50/50 female/male. At the moment, I think I have type-cast myself a little too much. However, every time I try to break out of the gentle, sensitive, thoughtful role the role play dies on me!

Here's something to consider.

You are more than just a talking head.

When you roleplay, you have a whole body to work with. Consider the physical details of what your character is doing. Do they have any nervous ticks? Do they move their hands when they talk? Are their arms folded? Are they tapping their toes?

For example, whenever one of my characters gets nervous he runs his fingers through his hair. Another one pushes his glasses up his nose. A couple of my characters pace when they think. Some of my characters get very, very still.

As well as having an entire body, you have your character's entire emotional and mental landscape. This is a great place to expand on your character's history, personality, and motivations. Why has she decided to do this? What is he thinking? What does she feel right now?

Thirdly, your character's body and mind are occupying a space. What does the space look like? What objects are in the space? How does your character interact with these objects? What does your character think and feel about their surroundings?

Consider the following. I start with a basic one-line dialogue. Without changing the characters or the setting, I then create three completely different tones by adding physical, emotional and scenic details.

a) "Yes, I see what you mean," Jane said.

b) Jane furrowed her brow and quickly flipped a couple of pages. She stopped and read the passage he had pointed out. "Yes, I see what you mean," she said.

Sitting back in her chair and folding her arms, she raised her eyes to the low ceiling. She would have to re-think this whole thing.

c) Jane's eyes skipped over the page and read the passage he was pointing at twice. She leaned much closer to him than would really have been necessary. The heat coming off his arm was making her giddy and her breath was coming in short gasps.

"Yes, I see what you mean," she said. She would have agreed to anything he said at this point.

d) "Yes," Jane said. "I see what you mean." Her voice was tight and she had the sudden urge to throw the book at his head. She hated it when he was right!

Why was she here, anyway? There was no reason for it. She turned and eyed the door. It was only, what, five steps away? The room with it's low ceiling was getting very claustrophobic with only the two of them, and yet the door was too far away.

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

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Okay, I have been roleplaying, but now I feel like creating my own!

Oh you do, do you? This can be somewhat challenging, so we will get some more help from the trusty Shotgun!

Lieutenant Shotgun

Making a good roleplay

YES.

Making a good, popular roleplay is hard.

First, be original.

Second, think. Think hard. think of a song, a show. Some of the most fun roleplays are series-related. Think of a movie, your life, anything!

Note: Series-based roleplays are HARD. You need to find a good series, then give all the information--so even people who haven't seen it can apply--AND make profile codes accordingly.

Thirdly. Think, has this been done before? If you're making a high school roleplay, what's original about it? A series based roleplay; has it been done? Then check some, and make sure it's original.

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

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Setting Up.

Now it's all about putting your RP together. You might want to use nice fonts and images to attract people in, but it's the posts that are important.

Lieutenant Shotgun

Things you'll need

To make your roleplay understandable and enjoyable.

1. A nice opening post.
Possibly with a picture, a quote or song lyrics... (Also, like the blurb of a book, you can include a short summary of what you are going to achieve in your roleplay, explaining key points such as genre, time era, etc.)

2. Rules.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. And remember to enforce them.

3. Setting.
Where and when the story takes place. In a school setting, describe or show a picture of the uniforms and such. This should be the longest post. (This can be continually updated as your characters move around.)

4. Parts.
The parts people can be, what they do, and how many people can be that part.

5. Profiles
The profile code! You can edit the example I gave if you wish.
Include here, or in the rules, how you want to receive them. By PM or in the thread.

 

[broken_bleeding_angel]

faretheewell

It seems obvious, but I've been in enough roleplays where someone doesn't know this to realize that it needs to be said.

Point of View and Tense

You've made your character, you know how this character will react in different situations, the creator has opened the floor. Now what?

Well, you start posting. Which means you need to know what tense and what point of view to write in. You want to write in the same way as everyone else in the roleplay. It avoids confusion.

The default on this is always going to be third person limited in past tense, but some creators might say differently. So, to make sure you know what each of these things are, here's a guide.

Points of View
First Person: This is when you write as though you were in your character's head. Basically, you say "I" for the character, "we" if there is more than one.

Third Person: This is when you are describing what someone else is doing. Your character is "he" or "she." "They" is for more than one person.

In third person, you can either have "omniscient" where the writer can see into every character's head, or "limited" where the writer can only see one or two character's thoughts. Since you are only playing one (or two) characters and trying to do more is a vile RP sin (God moding), you will be using the limited form.

Tenses
Future tense: "I will be walking to the store tomorrow." "She will go to work next week." "He is going to bake a cake next month." "Amy is going to fly to the moon." "We are going to like the play." "They will be surprised!" "Jack and Jill will go up the hill."

It is very difficult, and annoying to attempt this in a roleplay. Only use it when your character is directly speaking or thinking.

Present tense: "I am walking to the store." "She goes to work." "He bakes a cake." "Amy is flying to the moon." "We like the play." "They are surprised!" "Jack and Jill are going up the hill."

Some creators might want you to use present tense for the action in the whole roleplay. If this is the case, they will tell you. Otherwise, this tense is also reserved for when your character is talking, or if you are telling us exactly what your character is thinking.

Past tense: "I walked to the store yesterday." "She went to work last week." "He was baking a cake last month." "Amy was flying to the moon." "We liked the play." "They were surprised!" "Jack and Jill went up the hill."

If the creator doesn't say anything about tenses, always, always use past tense for the action.

Quiz Time!
Name the point of view and tense used in each of the following.

1. John sits down and thinks about it. He wishes his grandmother was here to tell him what to do, but she isn't. He has to figure this out by himself.

2. There will be a race next week. I will run in the race, and I am going to win first prize!

3. Julia sat down at her computer and pushed the power button. She lifted her mug to her lips and took a sip of coffee as she waited for it to boot up.

4. Mary and I ran out of the store. We stared in horror at the pile of twisted metal that had been our friend's car.

5. I watch the boy from my table. He turns around and sees me, but I pretend I am reading my book.

6. Catherine and Tya will fly to Japan in three days. They will bring their dog with them and they are going to have a wonderful time on the plane.