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Introduction to Role Playing

Role Playing is exactly what the title implies. You have a role and you are playing it. Unlike acting, which revolves around your body – the way you move, speak, and how you express yourself facially – Role Playing revolves around your mind. In Role Playing you use your mind to get into the mind of the character you are playing, and then you write out his or her thoughts, feelings, actions, and words. In essence, it is writing for more than one person.

General Rules

These are some good guidelines for any RP, and probably rules that you’ll see when you first walk into an RP.

exclaim The one who created the RP should be respected. Nine times out of ten, they took the time to think of the plot, setting, and to post it. You should respect the work that goes into the first two of those, and the consideration that goes into the third. So listen to them and follow their rules. If you think that the one who created the RP is not worthy of your respect, then don’t say anything insulting – just leave if you’d been lurking or politely excuse yourself if not.

exclaim Mary/Gary Sues are out of the question unless it’s a parody. More on these nasty little buggers later.

exclaim Be smart about what you say. Don’t go into an RP being a jerk and then being insulted when no one likes you.

exclaim God modding and power playing are both out. Basically, God modding is when your character is indestructible and power playing is when you take control of another Rper’s character. Or it might be the other way around. Both are rude and should never be done unless with permission. For example, an RPer drops out of the RP. Instead of their character dripping off the face of the Earth, you kill them off.

exclaim Most of the time, RPing is a long-term investment. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting a good RP going, with a good plot, good characters, and good RPers, and then people just stop posting. A dead RP is no fun at all, so when you go into an RP, assume you’re in for a long haul. Maybe not all at the moment, but you will probably be posting in the RP for a few months.

exclaim If no one is interacting with your character, go interact with another character. It can be as simple as having your character bump into another as they’re passing each other in a hall. Nothing’s quite so sad as seeing someone RP by themselves.

There are two entirely different ways of RPing in an IM and a forum, depending on who your RPing partners are. The biggest thing about the two different formats is that they are NOT interchangeable.

An example of a forum RP excerpt would be something like this…


That same RP sample can be written like this in an IM


The reason there are such vast differences is that in a forum, you have time to take it slow, show more description, and show more thoughts. IM RPs are usually more action and speech driven.

Like I said before, you wouldn’t go into a forum and post like you would an IM. You’ll probably get called a n00b and get made fun of. There are forums where that’s the accepted kind of format for your posts, but not many. And in an IM, there is a limited word count, so it’s hard to fit forum-style posts in. it can be done, and I know people who RP like that over IM, but it’s not generally done.

Generally, in a forum, you use third person past tense. That is, “he walked.” In an IM, you usually use third person present when inside actions. That is, “he walks.”

Also, with the examples I gave, the forum excerpt might be part of a post, but in the IM, that would likely be all of the post.

A Mary and Gary Sue is, basically, a perfect character. The term is also applied to fan fiction, though I’m not sure who used it first – fan fiction authors or RPers. The best, and most common, example of a Mary Sue (the female form of the Beast) is the tall, skinny, blonde, smart, rich woman or girl. Gary Sues are the same thing, but with men. They are HORRIBLE characters. Not only does playing a Sue show that you are such a bad writer that you are incapable of creating a better character, but it also shows that you are likely just as shallow as the Sue.

There are other kinds of characters along that same level. I’ve never heard them referred to as any kind of Sue, but they are also the bane of your existence and must be avoided at all costs. They are the really stereotypical characters. For example, you have a geek character who has a pocket protector, bad acne even though he should have grown out of it by now, is incapable of having a conversation with a normal person, gets beat up all the time but never fights back, and has absolutely no athletic skill whatsoever. Or you have a stereotypical goth or emokid. Those stereotypes do not occur often in the world, but so many of them run around RP forums.

exclaim There is, however, one exception to the rule. Parodies. When you’re making fun of the goth or emokid. When you’re taking a stab at the perfect cheerleader. When you’re doing it just for laughs. A forum like that will likely have a warning at the beginning saying it’s a parody, but sometimes they don’t.

Now, how do you get around those bad characters? When you first think of your first character, base it around someone you know. If you want your character to be a computer geek, find one you know and base it around him. For example, most of the really geeky computer guys at my school are actually fairly skilled athletically. Two of them are cross-country stars, and quite a few of the rest of them are good martial artists. They’re also good to talk to, and most actually have fairly clear skin. That’s not your stereotypical geek at all, but those people are still geeks.

Another good way of getting around a bad character is to make a perfect character, then cut away at them and make them imperfect. Slice off some of their physical perfections and do the same with their personality. Take the tall, skinny blonde I mentioned in the first paragraph and make her a klutz, annoying to be around, and quite a bit of an airhead. Or do something different to make the character more human.

If anyone has any questions or comments, the thread is now open and we can discuss. Yay!

Yeah, sure it does. Do you want to be put on my list of people who are available/willing to assist new RPers?

Yay! We need a Grammar Nazi. Though I'm not sure how that not-quite politically correct term will be taken. But being a stickler for proper grammar and spelling is good. Very good.