This is so clear (о´∀`о) thank you!

002. CONSTRUCTING A CHARACTER I. Giving Your Characters A Shape If you think you are done creating your character, by simply choosing a picture and a name you are very mistaken. Just like in a book, your characters need to feel 'alive' in RP as well. How they are fleshed out, it solely depends on you. But worry not! I am here to help you. Oh, and, while you are at it, please do check out the lovely guides by NicholiDeSchidor. I know you love further reading Anyway, as I was saying, your characters are not empty husks. They have a name, a family and a past. They have quirks, fears and preferences. Flaws and advantages. Their morality cannot be black or white, negative or positive, good or bad. Give your characters a life. Surround them with evidence of their past, present, and future. Everyday things that happen to them make them human. They should argue with their parents, forget a friend’s birthday, and hope everyone will forget theirs. They stub their toes, drop cell phones in water, and lose car keys. All of this must happen while they’re dealing with other people. The reader must see characters as real people. How you do that? Well, duh. Obviously you have to think of the basics. Name: Date of Birth (& age): Place of Birth: Gender: Species/Racial Origin: Social Class/Community Status: Then, you start giving shape to your character. Height: Weight: Hair: Eyes: Distinguishing Features: Typical Clothing/Equipment: Last, they are not empty husks. Your characters have their own needs, preferences and fears. Personality/Attitude: Skills/Talents: Favourites/Likes: Most Hated/Dislikes: Goals/Ambitions: Strengths: Weaknesses: Fears: Hobbies/Interests: Religion/Beliefs: Fetishes/Strange Behaviors: Sexual Preference/Experience/Values: Education/Special Training: Occupation: Past Occupations: Please keep in mind that you don't actually have to think of all that. They simply serve as a guide, or perhaps an outline of how your character will interact with others.

V. Godmode (de)activated! Don't try to be Superman in your roleplays. Okay, maybe you can but only when the setting is right! However, unrealistic characters is a real disease that has killed thousands of RPs. Either your character is a jack of all trades or an overpowered anthropomorphic alien from the future, who is benevolent and kind and wouldn't hurt a fly and... (You get it I hope) or a 'God', your RP partners will flee as soon as possible. Remember what you read above? RP is about interaction. If your character can do everything, knows everything, there is no reason for your character to interact with other characters. Similarly, no one really likes a know-it-all. Similarly, no character is perfect, no character is all-powerful, no character is invincible, and no character is above consequences. Their morality cannot be black or white, as there are gray areas too and that's what make them realistic. Godmoding refers to several types of bad roleplay as an umbrella term. All godmoding attempts to shift the roleplay in the godmoding player’s favor. In essence, godmoding is any attempt at giving a roleplaying character an advantage that does not normally exist in-game. The word comes from video games, where godmode includes “features such as invincibility, unlimited ammunition or lives, or similar power boosts” (Godmoding). Forum roleplay players can’t use exploits or cheat codes to power-up their characters — but certain RP behaviors can achieve virtually similar results. So... Yeah. Don't go do that. Metagaming is when you gain information through OOC means like talking to your friends about this amazing new RP they are part of. Only information gained via roleplay by your character, ICly, can be used. VI. Godmode Part 2 Let's get into godmoding a bit more extensively. Types of Godmoding: A) Godmodding is godmoding specific to character creation, skills, and certain situations (e.g., combat). B) Powerplaying is godmoding by controlling another roleplayer’s character without permission. C) Metagaming is godmoding specific to the use of OOC knowledge in roleplayed actions, behaviors, thoughts. D) Retconning is godmoding specific to erasure or alteration of past events.. The advantages gained by godmoding can be: A) Against other players and their characters — e.g., the super-powered beast-hulk who smashes any challengers in a fight, no matter what. B) Against the game world and its realism rules — e.g., the twelve year old magician who can suddenly defeat a previously unbeatable enemy. C) Against the environment — e.g., the teenager in a high school town RP who never references or writes about being in class and instead works full-time, despite a truancy policy being enforced in-game. Now that you know what Godmoding is, and how to achieve that, don't go full terminator mode. These examples were not put there for you to follow them but for you to rather avoid them.

001. RP ETIQUETTE Roleplay Etiquette refers to all the rules that apply, written or unwritten, In Character (IC) or Out Of Character (OOC) whenever you participate in a RP. To beginners, such terms may be confusing and it's totally understandable. Don't fret yourself over it. Instead, take it slow and you will improve in no time! I will begin with the basics, so you can acquaintance yourself better with those terms. I. What is Roleplay? Roleplay is assuming the role of a character and writing, acting, or playing as that character would. There are many forms of roleplaying: gaming console, live action roleplay, tabletop roleplay, text-based roleplay, forum roleplay, and on and on. II. OOC Does Not Equal IC First, you need to differentiate the meaning between OOC and IC. Out of Character (OOC), is you! The real you; the person behind the screen. Whatever happens in RP, it is not personally directed at you but at your character; the one you created. In Character (IC) is the 'personality' you take (or think of... as acting) of the character you are RPing as. In reality, you may not be an asshole of gigantic proportions. However, in RP you may be just that. It is important to tell apart between the two. Or as I use to say, whatever happens in RP, stays in RP. Now, it is also very important to remember that, in roleplaying, your character can be different from you. New roleplayers find it easy to create “themselves” as characters. This can very easily lead to destructive RP behavior, though! For example, a player with a self-character may take offense at another character disliking the self-character. Read what I mentioned above? IC does not equal OOC. Keep that in mind in order to have an enjoyable roleplaying experience. Just because a character dislikes your character does not mean that RPer dislikes you. A fight between RPers does not mean characters have to start disliking one another (though it may be easiest to avoid drama by avoiding the roleplayer). III. Consent Roleplay is all about consent! You wouldn't want something horrible to happen to your character without beforehand agreement, would you? Likewise, your RP partner does want anything to happen to their character without giving the OK first. No one can force you to type anything you don't want to type. By roleplaying out your reactions, you are implicitly giving the other roleplayer consent to treat your character a certain way. Your character becomes a part of not just your story but someone else's as well. Oh, and, just because consent is implied, it DOES NOT mean you have to accept every kind of RP that comes your way. If you find the RP going in a direction you are not comfortable with, message the other person and inform them immediately. Once they are aware, the two of you can negotiate some way to steer the roleplay onto more neutral grounds. Or in the worst case "Fade to Black" wherein you both agree on the final outcome of the scene without actually roleplaying it all out. IV. Respect Other RPers Since RP is a social activity, not everything is about you - your character. There are other people involved; real, just like you. So, don't steal the spotlight. It takes two to tango. What makes roleplay really interesting is that the storyline you are trying to develop may be supported or opposed by the other characters you run into. Which brings us to... Open yourself up to consequences. We are all here to write a story together. There is no winning or losing. No one likes someone who avoids consequences of their actions or insists on "winning" all the time. People enjoy RPing with someone who brings in depth and diversity into their roleplay and makes it a fun experience for all. Therefore, accept responsibility for your IC actions! But most of all, be respectful in private messages and other OOC interactions. Roleplay will not always go your way. Not all RPs will meet your perfect standards. There is no reason to get insulting or abusive over it. Same holds for interactions in public forums, group chat and the like.