
SDRP Member Feature
From its humble beginnings, SDRP has sought to provide roleplayers with thorough mentorship within a comfortable, friendly atmosphere. And, while we are a “school” of sorts, we see our members as more than just students. It isn’t enough to have a passion for the written word or a love for the game; it’s to possess an insatiable desire to improve, to tap into hidden potential, to harness and own the ability to create the impossible. Here, we've witnessed worlds molded, characters fleshed out, and adventures woven more times than we can possibly count--arriving by vehicles of tireless imagination, leaving deep impressions in their wake. They go by many names, but their goal is essentially the same: to tell a story.
But just who are these unsung masters of their craft?
We, at SDRP, would like to finally shed some light on those responsible behind the emerald curtain and show our gratitude by presenting a monthly featurette, dedicated to you, our fellow roleplayers. For we are nothing without you. heart
- July 2015: Tonash Drahow

- Thornwick: Why do you roleplay?
Tonash Drahow
To be perfectly honest, I roleplay because I want to experience things as a completely different entity in scenarios that I enjoy; or, in some cases, I prefer to imagine myself in such situations to think of how I might handle events if they were to occur to me personally. I do realize this might be the actual definition of role play, but I feel it fits.
Thornwick: What sort of characters do you enjoy creating?
Tonash Drahow
The characters I try to build or instruct others to build, assuming that I'm controlling the thread, are all believable characters with depth. I can't stand writers who try to turn themselves or specific characters into Superman-esque individuals with no flaws or weaknesses. Conflict breeds interest, imperfection makes people into actual believable humans (or sub-humans depending on your story). If your readers cannot relate to your characters, they quickly become disinterested and view the story as bland or inadequate. If you put forth the effort and think "How would this character think in this situation?" then, think of how other characters will react to *that* characters actions, you get an excellent ripple effect that can reach the reader's empathy with relative ease.
Thornwick: How has SDRP contributed to your roleplay abilities?
Tonash Drahow
I joined the SDRP sometime back in 2007 and to this day, I still have few friends who actually RP. So, this guild has given me a place that I can practice one of my favorite hobbies and even though most of the people whom I have RP'ed with in the past have moved on, I still check here regularly and occasionally create a new story in the hopes of finding a steady group of like-minded people to carry on a LONG FORM RP. I think I've made about five or six over the time I've been here, who knows how many I've joined, but the longest they have ever lasted was about six months, much to my dismay. In any event, I do feel I've grown as a writer in the time that I've been here, whether that's due to the people I've encountered or just a natural progression through life, I feel is mostly irrelevant and that it is the time that I *did* spend in the company of other creative individuals that has given inspiration for future works.
Thornwick: What puts you off a roleplay?
Tonash Drahow
Ha! Now that's an excellent question, I'll break it down.
#1 - Poor Grammar/Spelling/Proofreading.
Okay, I know that some folks on Gaia only know English as a second or third language, but barring those who are fighting a language barrier, there is virtually no reason for anyone's post to contain more than one or two grammatical or spelling errors. I proof read every post/message I create at least twice before I hit that submit button; because a guard yelling "HEY! That's public property!" is a LOT different than "HEY! That's pubic property!"
#2 - Inactivity
This is an unfortunate plague amongst online message boards. Life happens, I know. Some folks on here are even older than I and have families of their own and obligations that they have to honor; but, more often than not, people just lose their passion for it. It doesn't take long to create a relevant post for most threads, usually ten to thirty minutes depending on the thread, but people often just give up without even letting anyone else in the thread know. As a result, those who *are* still active are left wondering what happened and potentially have their characters literally frozen in place for an undetermined amount of time which can often bring about the death of the entire thread.
#3 - Picture Headers/Requirements
This is more of a personal gripe than anything. Threads that require you provide an image for your character description is just lazy in my opinion. If you want to be creative, tell us what they look like, describe them thoroughly so that I can visualize them in my head. Then there are other threads that take it even further, requiring you to blatantly put that image as a header in every post you make along with poetry or something that is overall irrelevant to the character's actions. Again, no offense to anyone who prefers it that way, but I'm just not a fan of going that route.
#1 - Poor Grammar/Spelling/Proofreading.
Okay, I know that some folks on Gaia only know English as a second or third language, but barring those who are fighting a language barrier, there is virtually no reason for anyone's post to contain more than one or two grammatical or spelling errors. I proof read every post/message I create at least twice before I hit that submit button; because a guard yelling "HEY! That's public property!" is a LOT different than "HEY! That's pubic property!"
#2 - Inactivity
This is an unfortunate plague amongst online message boards. Life happens, I know. Some folks on here are even older than I and have families of their own and obligations that they have to honor; but, more often than not, people just lose their passion for it. It doesn't take long to create a relevant post for most threads, usually ten to thirty minutes depending on the thread, but people often just give up without even letting anyone else in the thread know. As a result, those who *are* still active are left wondering what happened and potentially have their characters literally frozen in place for an undetermined amount of time which can often bring about the death of the entire thread.
#3 - Picture Headers/Requirements
This is more of a personal gripe than anything. Threads that require you provide an image for your character description is just lazy in my opinion. If you want to be creative, tell us what they look like, describe them thoroughly so that I can visualize them in my head. Then there are other threads that take it even further, requiring you to blatantly put that image as a header in every post you make along with poetry or something that is overall irrelevant to the character's actions. Again, no offense to anyone who prefers it that way, but I'm just not a fan of going that route.
Thornwick: Let’s do a writing exercise just for fun: The object on your left is what you’ll be using to defend yourself during a zombie apocalypse. In five sentences tell us how you fair. (Note: Be creative.)
Tonash Drahow
Huh, well lucky that I happen to have my microphone stand and mic for my Voice Over work at my desk. The mic stand provides plenty of reach and the mic itself is quite heavy, making it a viable weapon. Alternatively, I could also take the mic off of the stand to use for a more controlled but shorter reach bludgeoning weapon. The zombie apocalypse has started so I'd have to potentially bash my way out of my apartment complex and reach my car so that I could try to locate my girlfriend as quickly as possible. Assuming I could locate my love and be certain that she was not infected, I would make for the nearest distribution center for the nearby superstores to gather supplies in bulk before making our eventual way towards the least populated mountainous regions of the east coast.
Thank you, Tonash Drahow, for indulging us with this interview. For those of you pressing to know more about this month's rising roleplaying star, feel free to stick around and chat! Stay tuned for next month’s member feature. It just might be you!