Guide to Roleplaying

[Dreamer]

Dreamer’s General Guide to Roleplaying

(Note: This is a fairly old guide, but has aged fairly well, though I have added a few more notes and tidied it up a little. But... I plan to work on a more updated version soon.)

In many ways Roleplaying is a fun way to pass the time, but it’s sometimes more complicated than some people realize. So for those who are new to roleplaying I say welcome! And I’m here to give some advice and crucial information for those that are starting out.

This guide is for beginners and experienced roleplayers alike, to know exactly what some terms mean and to give some help and advice. Let’s get started.

First of all, what is roleplay?

I have been asked this question by friends and family, and I decided some people may have absolutely no idea what it is. For those, I give this explanation.

Roleplaying, in its essence, is a written interaction between fictional characters. The setting, plot, conflict, and characters can be anything you'd like, but basically, one person writes a small story-like piece, and someone else replies to it, showing how their character would respond. Each person creates their own unique character for these interactions, and most sites have specific types or species of characters they would have you play, as well as a plot and story for them to conform to.

General Important Items

1. General Rules and Site functioning- Each site has its own set of rules, its own way of functioning, this includes the staff and how they expect you to behave, but where are the differences?

-Admin/Administrator: These are the people that created and maintain the site, how much they do depends on if they have support staff such as moderators or not.

-Moderators/Mods: This is the staff that is usually responsible for the roleplaying aspects of the site, such as threads, and sometimes are responsible for accepting characters along with the admins, occasionally however there are separate staff specifically for accepting characters.

-Maturity:
Most proboards, jcink, and zetaboards sites will have a PG-13 guideline, meaning that adult themes such as swearing, sexual themes, and violence and gore, should be either non-existent or kept to a minimum, however, some allow you to use PMs or mark a topic “M” for “Mature.” However, site providers such as the ones listed above have explicit rules regarding this subject, and any site that does not follow them risks being shut down.

- Accounts:
Usually it is required you make an account before you post, however there are two different types of sites when considering this aspect.

-Account+Per+Character:

This type of site requires that for each character you make, you must make a new account.

PROS= This type helps in keeping track of the number of CHARACTERS the site has, as well as helping the admins with organization of said characters. Some believe it helps to distinguish between characters when posting.

CONS= It’s just annoying to have to jump between accounts, and it's also hard to tell how many members the site actually has, after all, many members could have multiple accounts, and it is often hard to calculate exactly how many accounts each has. Often on these sites one person will be called many different names, because of the many accounts, and it can be hard to keep straight who is who. Also there is a larger margin of error, where one might post as a certain character accidentally, using another character’s account instead.

-Single Account:
These sites allow each person to have only one account, however having multiple characters on that one account.

PROS= This is very practical for knowing how many MEMBERS a site will have, as well as making it easier to know who one is talking to. There is less chance of error and confusion here, and the way one differentiates between characters is to post the name or sometimes sprite of your character at the beginning of the post, though many times it’s not necessary.

CONS= It makes organizing the number of active CHARACTERS on the sites a little more complicated, and some think it is harder to organize the characters.

-Time: There are also two ways of time, though one is almost never used.

-Liquid Time: The most common, this method allows that your character may be in as many threads as you can control, so long as it doesn’t interfere with the plot.

PROS= This allows you more liberty with your characters as to who they can rp with and where and when. This also allows the time to go by faster or slower, and doesn’t leave your character stuck in one place.

CONS= The bigger difficulties with this method, are that it’s hard to establish a timeline and that it can often be slightly confusing.

Static/Single time: The second method of time keeping requires that you have each of your characters in only one place at a time.

PROS= It allows for a very organized time line and no confusion as to where and what your character is doing.

CONS= Limits severely how you have your character interact it can become easy to be trapped when another user doesn’t respond.

-Godmodding/Powerplay:

This means that you either control the other person’s character in your roleplay, or state how an attack or action affects the other player. This is never allowed. People will usually get angry with you if you attempt to do something like this.

Example:

" Bob knocked Jim to the ground, and punched him in the face."

This is wrong; the best way would be is to modify the sentence and say this:

"Bob attempted to knock Jim to the ground and punch him in the face."

Otherwise you would be controlling what happened to the other character. Posting the correct way enables the other person to basically reply if Bob did or did not accomplish what he meant to do. To be fair, it is always best to take a few hits, otherwise you’d be all powerful.

-Word Count: This refers to the amount of words in your post. Often times, a site will have limits imposed on the minimum length of a post. If you have a hard time keeping with the word count minimum, You should try to get help from another user, who could help you improve your roleplaying, or join a less demanding site. The Roleplaying ranks are:

Beginner: I would rate this up until 100 words, not demanding, very little information.

Intermediate: I would rate this between 150 to 300 words.

Advanced/Expert: Above 300 words a post, some really good roleplayers can write close to 1000 words a post.

2. Characters- When joining a site, most require making a character before playing.

-Character Sheet/Application/Biography: This is where you describe and create your character, most sites will have a pre-made sheet for you to simply fill in the blanks. Usually it’s better to go above and beyond what they ask for, as it will help everyone picture your character more easily.

-Plots/Mini-plots: Plots are the stories that your character is involved in, this includes love interests, friendships, rivalries,etc. Usually sites will have site-wide plots which are of great events that attempt to involve as many characters as possible, while mini-plots are smaller and involve only a few characters.

-High Positions: These are the important positions on the site, such as leaders of factions and such. Some sites make High Positions be part of the staff, so as to make it less difficult for the admins to have to deal with everything on the site.

- Mary Sues/Gary Stews: This involves more the characters than anything else, but it is VERY important. When making a character you want to always try to have a balance of strengths and weaknesses, and to be unique with little quirks and fears that make it different. However, your character can’t be all powerful and have abilities that don’t go with what the specific site has in mind. Your character can’t be perfect.

-Character Rules: When making a character note the rules that the site has regarding them, if they have bans (meaning what type of characters you should not create), and suggestions.

3. Terms and Abbreviations: Most times users won’t use complete words, so if you’re confused what an abbreviation means, this section is for you.

-IC: In Character, refers to the posts you make as your character.

-OOC: Out of Character, refers to when you are posting things yourself, not as your character.

-Charrie/Chara: Characters, some people are just too lazy to write it all out.

- RP: Roleplay, like the previous one.

-Bio: Biography, this basically refers to your character sheet, sometimes more specifically to your character’s history.

-AU: Alternate Universe, an rp might be an alternate universe of a book series or a tv show, meaning that it was after, before, or didn’t follow the original plot. This may also refer to a section of the site that does not have the same theme as the rest of the site.

-NPC: Non-player-character or Not-played-Character. These are characters that may be mentioned in your character’s history, but don’t necessarily need to be played.

-Dmab/Dfab: A more recent but very convenient way to explain your cat's biological sex. It means "designated female (or male) at birth" and serve to differentiate between their biological sex and whatever sex or gender they have chosen.

How to Make a Good Character

When joining a roleplaying site, one of the first things that must normally be done is to create a character. Some people give as small a description of their character as possible, just enough to meet requirements, but it always helps to do more than to do less. I know some people have difficulty trying to describe their character, so I’m going to give some tips on how to make a good character or how to improve on them. Each site will have its own character sheet with information unique to the site, however, there are some things that appear on most if not all applications.

Basics:


- Name: This is specific for each site and roleplay you have, but try and make your character have a name that fits with what the site has in mind.

-Age: It’s important to remember that age defines many things for your character, the younger it is the less skills it will probably know but it gives you more room to develop the character over time, so remember to choose the age carefully, as it affects a lot.

-Gender: Male or Female? Pretty straightforward. (Note- Also wise to indicate sexuality, and if this character is trans or not)

-Race/Species/Breed: Sometimes it is necessary to specify one of these depending on the rp. For example, on any Animal RP sites, you will need to specify the species and breed of the animal. On Human or Humanoid RP's, you may need to specify it's race.

-Occupation/Rank: This is what your character does, what it's job is, or what it is. Age usually affects this.

-Clan/Faction: This might be required, sometimes each faction or clan has a certain type of character, pay attention to what the characters from that faction or clan are normally like.

In Depth:

-Appearance:

There are many ways to leave this in depth so that people can easily picture your character, general sentences and very little description leave your character a drab ordinary character with no individuality.

Here is a list of questions you might ask yourself about your character:

If it is an animal:

How big is it? And how big is it compared to others? (small, large, medium, etc.)

What is its build? (Slender, Graceful, bulky, lanky, long-legged, etc.)

What colors are in it's fur? (It's best to use realistic colors according to the animal.)

What markings does its fur have? (Try to describe these as in depth as possible. Eg. Colour, consistency, patterns, size, and location.)

What length and style is its fur? (long and silky, short and coarse, medium and sleek, thick and curly, or rex?)

What color are its eyes? (Again you can describe if it has subtle changes depending on light, or flecks of another color, even using a gem as a starting point.)

What color are is its skin, paws, nose, any other important bits?

Other tips: My biggest suggestion is to look up a description of your animal or animal breed and use that as a basis for your description, adding whatever is needed. Use a reference image as much as you possibly can. Also try to add detail, and research as much as you need to.

-Personality:

When making a character, it is important for your character to have a certain personality, a unique, but not unbelievable way in which it acts and thinks. It often helps for there to be reasons in their history as to why they might have become like this, and to why they might think in this manner. Also try not to fill your character with contradictions, if it’s a sweet person, how can it be always angry and have a horrible temper? Of course, there may be different times when it acts differently and it may act differently around certain other characters or in certain situations, these should be specified.

Here is a general list of questions/categories your character’s personality could be divided into:

General:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Dominant Emotions:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Hobbies:

Fears:

Quirks/Habits:

Towards friends/close relationships:

Towards strangers/acquaintances:

Towards authorities:

Towards family:

-History:

This is one of the most important, yet also difficult, aspects for your character. Many people think that their character needs to have some tragedy or other in their lives, but sometimes it’s better if they don’t have anything tragic happen to them. A common misconception that people have is that if your character’s family isn’t played, they have to be dead. Not so at all! They can be living, but NPC’s or you can even adopt them out to add some more interesting bits to your character’s life. You can also arrange with another member to have your character related to one of their existing characters, to save you the trouble of creating family.

Here is a list of things that you would do well to mention in your character’s History:

Background: Who were your character’s parents? How was their relationship? When was your character born? Why was it given its name? Did they have any other children? What were the parents like?

Kithood: What happened in your character’s youth? How was its relationship with its family? Were the parents present? Did your character have any close friends? Did something happen that affected the rest of its life?

Apprenticeship: Who was your character’s mentor? How was the relationship between them? What interesting facts happened during this time? Did he make any friends/enemies? What became his strengths? What was your character's mentor like? Did your character have any outstanding accomplishments? What was their favourite thing to do at this age? What did they like to learn about?

Young Warrior Moons:
When did your character earn its warrior name? Why? What was its warrior name? Did this change anything? Any other interesting events happen in this time? Did your character find a mate? What is their favourite thing to do now as opposed to their apprentice days?

Warrior moons: For warriors: Did your character find a mate? Did he get an apprentice? Have kits? Make friends/enemies? What are his ambitions in life?

How to roleplay

Now you’re probably wondering what to do with yourself. You’ve already made a character, and now you think, what’s next? Well this is where the true roleplaying comes in.

I’m going to give a roleplay example, from someone who may or may not be starting out, or is not experienced.

“Echopaw walked out of the den and over to the fresh-kill pile and sat down. She waited for her mentor to take her to the sandy hollow.”

Doesn’t that seem a little…. Uncommunicative? The problem with this tiny post is that there is so little a roleplaying partner can reply to.

Here is a check list to maybe help you when checking content as well as length of your post.

Describe Setting:

This involves what time of day it is, what the weather is, where the character is, who else is around, etc.

Describe Actions:

What is your character doing, how is he doing it, etc.

Describe Thoughts:

What is your character thinking, how is he/she feeling, what is his/her attitude, what happened lately that made your character feel different, but try to avoid making the entire post consist of things that have happened to your character.

Detail:

Have you added some good detail to your post? Are you showing and not telling? This is one thing that will greatly improve your post. Let me give you two examples:

This is telling:

“Shadow hissed and looked angrily at his opponent, ready for a fight.”

This is showing:

“Shadow arched his back and fluffed out his fur, hissing, his claws slid out to a ready position and he began to circle his enemy, watching for its next move. Ready to fight.”

See the difference? When you show and don’t just tell, not only do you get more words, you get a different effect.
What also helps detail-wise are good strong verbs.

Which sounds better?

“Alex walked down the street moodily.”

“Alex trudged down the street his shoulders hunched and his hands buried in his pockets.”

With a little time and effort, your post can get far better.

Point of view:

This is one thing that is somewhat confusing. Most sites ask that you roleplay in third person, though some allow in first person. When roleplaying in first person, you must be masterful with your words so as to make it perfectly clear who you are roleplaying as. This is easier if you are on an account-per-character site, as you cannot confuse what character is speaking, but it is still best avoided all together, as it often makes both the post and thread not as smooth as it would be if both were to roleplay in the same person.

Now this is an example of a better post:

“Echopaw gingerly put her paw out of the apprentice’s den, testing the ground for excessive wetness. Even though it had been pouring rain last night she hoped that the ground had mostly dried. She was not looking forward to grooming the knots out of her long silvery fur anyway, and she wouldn’t appreciate more moisture to mess it up.

Sadly, her paw encountered the spongy surface of wet ground and she pulled it back. With a frustrated sigh she poked her head out and glanced quickly around the camp before pulling her head back under the den’s protection. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in camp this morning. The deputy was organizing hunting patrols, and the dawn patrol had just arrived back. Echopaw perked her black tipped ears, but apparently there was nothing to report, as she heard no raised or worried voices.

She was still debating whether she would go out and risk the wet or if she could get away with staying in the den when she heard her mentor’s voice calling her to come out. Echopaw rolled her eyes but finally tip-toed out of the den, trying to keep as much of her body not in contact with the muddy, wet ground as she could. When she was close enough to be noticed by the other cats she lifted her tail and chin high, completely ignoring both her mentor and her brother as she came and sat down. She had come when she wanted, and in her own time.”

Isn’t that much better? With some practice and work, your posts can get better and better, and soon you could be giving advice on how to roleplay.