Roleplaying Tips

[Key]

In this thread experienced roleplayers can give tips on how to structure your roleplay or how to make unique characters, anything that can be included in a roleplay.

[Ridd]

Foreword: Thanks Key! + Pffft, first!

 

How to rp without pissing off the partner? Or shortly: How to rp well?

 

One word. Improvisation.

 

Improvisation is what RP is all about. Even though people usually connect this word to actors who play their `shows´ on stage, you could think about your (and your partner's) rp as your `stage´. In a rp, you're the actor who will make an interesting, working play together with your co-actors. Though you better remember this: Improvisation isn't just a chaotic mess with every player doing their own things only. Actually it's quite the opposite. I does have rules of some kind. Real actors can't do everything they want in the plays either, even if they were supposed to improvise. They have to follow the basic rules of improvisation.

 

Also, follow the premise! You can't take a story from future, year 2359, to an old pirates hip from 1800 -century. Putting some thought to this, it sounds ridiculous, and you might think "who on earth is that stupid?", but trust me. There are people who make even worse, and more ridiculous jumps on the premise.. *sighs heavily*

 

When another player has said something, for example that his character leaves the room, you can't just write that your character continues talking with him. He has left the room for god's sake! You can't change it anymore! I've seen this happen on this forum too, (not pointing fingers) and it's never a good thing. I'm not saying that I haven't made this mistake myself in the past too, on my newbie times, but please. Try to pay attention to what the other one is writing. You'll leave the other player annoyed and frustrated if you don't. This rule also ensures that the rp is non-contradictory.

This doesn't mean that the characters can't argue though. ("We'll go this way." "No we won't! I want to go this way") It just means that you have to accept whatever the other player writes about the environment. HOWEVER! It's totally acceptable if the host of the rp (Who made the topic and the original post) repeals things that don't fit in with the premise, or the whole rp.

 

AVOID DEAD ENDS!!

Now, to get more specific on interacting with characters: have every post you make in some way respondable by another player. It's pretty self explanatory. You want the RP to go back and forth as much as you can while moving the story along. Avoid dead end posts! Those are posts where no one can easily respond. Even if they are theoretically able to be responded to, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy and therefore fun for the other parties involved.

 

It's a little difficult for me to give you an exact example of a dead end post, since it varies so much based on context. I will attempt, though. (Wish me luck! Thanks. I appreciate the luck.)

 

So two dudes and a lady are having a pleasant conversation, when one gentleman makes a rather sexist remark and insults the lady. She makes a post where she storms off in anger, and the two gentlemen, who have nothing really in common, have a very hard time making conversation, and the RP eventually dies. So, where then, was the dead end post? Why, the part where the lady storms off! Although this is indeed a plausible reaction, it still causes a chain of events where ultimate end is the death of an RP. (Hence the name: dead end! Pretty clever, huh? I'm glad you agree.)

 

What should have the lady done? Good question! In this particular instance, the person playing the lady should have told the insulting gentleman how insulting he is, and start a debate on sexism, or at least in some way continue the conversation. This is much better! Keep conversations and scenes going on as much as you can, but when they start to drag, transition easily and smoothly to the next scene. It's an art, so it takes some practice! So get out there and start practicing!

 

 

DO NOT GODMOD FOR GOD'S SAKE!

God Modders have been a burden of rp's for a long time, and they can really annoy other members who like to develop their story gradually at a decent pace, only for the story to be taken on an unusual sidetrack or finished prematurely and undramatically. Trust me, I've seen those people, and they really ruin my day. No-one wants to play with a God Modder.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

 

Okay, well the opening sentence was a bit wrong I guess, of course roleplaying isn't all about impovising only. There are a whole lot of other things you have to keep in mind, but that's to be waited from the next guides.

Remember that role playing is working together with the other player to make a coherent and good story!

 

I could be nagging about things for an eternity, but I don't want to make this post too long, so this is how I could write it as it's shortest. Pretty simple, right? Just try to keep these `rules´ in mind when you rp, and you'll do just fine.

 

This is just the start. A fore-scratch, maybe? I just thought that this would make a good opening to this thread, and to the flow of my, and everyone else's guides of course. I'm going to work on a few other guides, including `How to make a good character?´ `How to make a good plot?´ `What to pay attention to, when writing?´, so those are going to come up soon~ Just wait, I'm going to make a whole lot of these boring guides of mine. *Muohohohohoo~*

[Ridd]

Character development and creation

 

 

The character is a very important part of the rp, and in my opinion, even the most important thing in it. See the word `Role Play´ It means that you're playing the role of your character, almost like an actor. Every good story/rp needs good and entertaining characters that make you want to think about them even after you've stopped reading/writing. Shortly: Give your character some depth and interesting traits.

 

 

In general

 

I've learnt a lot about character making, and I still suck at it... sadly. But still I've got some useful tips that could be of use for it.

Even skillful writers have to work to make their characters work. If someone says that they don't, they're not human. It's possible though. And if you've been blessed with that kind of ability, get your ass out of here because you don't need this info, you PRO! Heh, now.. Seriously.

 

THERE IS ONE THING that really bugs me when I see people's character sheets. And when I say bug, I really mean it. A lot. I actually never paid attention to it before going to England for a year to study. My `teacher´ nagged about this all the time, and she still claimed that she wasn't stressing it enough. (Yeah right, she can kiss my ***.. ahe.. Sorry.. She's a good person, really.) Now I can't help but think about it all the time. Even I myself have done this mistake, and still continue doing it repeatedly. No can do, I'm not a professional you know.

Lack of the imagination. We're talking about a real issue here. Character making seems to lack a lot of imagination in many rp's nowadays. And not speaking only about this forum, but about every rp forum I've seen. It seems like people want to play it safe, and simply blend in with all the others. Going with the flow though, is a bad, bad mistake. Making characters who are friendly, positive, self-sufficent, and flawless in every aspect. Come on people! I'm sure you have got some imagination inside those heads of yours! Use it!

It's really boring to see characters with the same personalities, traits and habits in many different rps. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Boooooriiiing! Just adding a "dark, mysterious aura" isn't enough. Make the character have flaws, not just some rubbish that would make your character look `cooler´. Make the character realistic! Let him have his own personality! Not a copy from a BL/YAOI-manga or anime.

For ex. Adding speech problems is a good way to bring some uniqueness to your character. And an allergy of some kind, for example a dog allergy, that makes your character sneeze all the time, makes it more interesting.

Adding some unliked traits to your character is also very important. No-one wants a perfect little Mary-Sue who has no flaws at all. For ex. Nagging, being prejudiced, or having a habit of lying all the time can bring some good spice and balance for the character who has many good traits. NEVER FORGET THE BALANCE BETWEEN THE GOOD AND BAD TRAITS! Being "unflawless" is always better.

 

A base to build your character on

 

To make a good character, you need a base to build it on to. Some kind of personality type, character history or anything you can use to build your character on. It's something that decides how your character interacts in different situations. Give it some thought and time! Don't try to force, or you'll only be left with hands full of crap.

After you've found a good foundation, you can start building the rest of the character. It should be easier from now on.

For ex. If you started with a character, who you chose to be a sociopath, then you can thinking about the character's history. What made him a sociopath? Maybe he was abused as a child by his sociopath father, or maybe everyone that he trusted betrayed him? (Lol, now I used a cliche.)

what is important, is that your character creation should be fun, and flow naturally. Having a bunch of traits just thrown together isn't going to create anything but a total chaos. Nothing good will come out of it.

 

Don't miss this, it's important:

 

HOW YOUR CHARACTER RESPONDS IN A SITUATION SHOULD NOT BE HOW YOU WOULD RESPOND IN THAT SITUATION YOURSELF!!

 

It kills the whole idea of ROLE play. You're not supposed to write your character's actions the way you would like to react yourself. Think for a moment about your character's personality, history, fears or anything that could affect his way of responding. I'm sure that your co-player won't get angry if he/she has to wait for your post a little longer, because you want to make a good post. The more thought you put into a post, the more details you have, and the more details you have, generally the better your post is.

 

Growing your character is important! Don't let him be a rock!

 

A rock character is a person who doesn't change at all during the story, no matter what kind of traumatic or earth-shaking events he goes trough in the rp. This kind of character is a bad, bad character. A good character actually learns things from other characters, and does some things later in the rp, that he would have never even thought about doing in the beginning of the story.

 

DON'T FORCE YOUR CHARACTER TO CHANGE, but let things change your character, even fundamental things.

 

For example: That sociopath character from before, will in the rp meet people who are trustworthy, and help said paranoid character. A good direction to go with this, is that the sociopath realizes that not all of the people are so bad, and that he becomes more trusting. Having him remain as stoic and paranoid individual the entire rp, even though all the people around him are treating him kindly is just too boring. Letting him change during the rp brings a more realistic aspect to the whole story.

 

This is called character development. Not all writers/rpers have it naturally, but it's an extremely important thing in characters. As you know, all good novels and stories have character changing during the book(s), either by learning new things and reacting to things differently that they would have done in the beginning and so on.

 

The best way to help your character `grow´ is to put yourself in his shoes, and remember these two magic words: Thoughts and Narratives. When you write your posts, jump inside your character's mind, and play his role like you were him. Don't just write action and dialogue. Write what your character is thinking while he does those actions and speaks those words. Think with you character, think like him. Suck his `character´ into you when you write the posts.

 

That's probably the biggest difference between an experienced rper and a newbie rper.

 

The experienced writer writes from that character's perspective while a newbie only writes about the character's actions.

 

Some good ways to practice character personality development are to: (just a few)

1. Read A LOT

2. Take courses and tutorials

3. Socializing and discussing with other writers/role players

4. TV programs and movies.

 

 

**1. Reading books is a good way to learn character making. You'll notice chapter from chapter that the character growth is happening. There are also lots of skilled writers and role players here on Yaoi Otaku, whose stories and rp's you can read to learn from.

 

**2. What else can I say about this, except that it's very effective, and you will surely learn lots of good things from there. Though this isn't something you really MUST DO to be a good character creator / writer. Many worldwide known writers have never took any courses, and they still make characters that are amazing and realistic enough to make people cry for them.

 

3. THIS PART is very important. Socializing with other writers is always good and necessary. Never hesitate to ask your rp partner's or reader's opinion about your work. Nothing is as nice as a good, honest feed-back. It's a writer's second life. No matter what kind of feed-back it is. Of course it's nice to have positive feed-back, but to be realistic, that doesn't grow people as writers even nearly as much as critique does. CRITIQUE IS VERY IMPORTANT, and it makes the writer want to get better. So when you ask for feedback, don't forget to give one back to your co-writer. It always makes a writer happy to get some comments about their works. Don't ever let the critique discourage you. Think of it as a gift from the reviewer, and learn to be better.

Never give feedback that isn't honest!

 

Remember that nothing is as effective as practice. You can't get better if you don't write. And remember, even the best writers on our forum have once been newbies to writing as well. Trust me. If you don't believe me, then go and ask one. I'm sure that you'll receive the same answer as I gave you. They've just practiced. A LOT! So never stop practicing and writing!

 

Haaah.... This was a long one.. My fingers are spaghetti from writing... I even tried to shorten it up as much as I could. I took lots of things out, and guess what? The next guide will include them. Thanks if you really were patient enough to read the whole guide!

And if you didn't... well I'm not blaming you... *laughs*

And don't worry. I'll come back one day, and correct the mistakes. I also try to make the guides easier to understand when I'm not too lazy. Since I'm not a native speaker of English, I make lots of mistakes, and sometimes write things that don't make any sense. Hope that it's not all just non-sense blabbering though.

Hope that it helps you even a little bit ! See ya on the next guide! *faints from all the word play*

[Guest Fay]

.::「Helpful RP Suggestions to Keep in Mind」::.

 

Just some things to keep in mind if you're new to RPing or haven't in awhile

 

-Post Length: Posts length varies for everyone but most will agree that one-liners are highly discouraged. Length is better. A nice medium to shoot for is about 3 paragraphs

 

-Grammar/Spelling: Seems kind of obvious yeah? It doesn't hurt to read over your post when you've finished it. The easier it is to understand, the easier and quicker your partner can get back to you

 

-God-Moding: For those who don't know this is controlling someone else's character. For some, THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE. If you need to control someone's character for a post CHECK with them first and make sure that they are alright with what you are doing.

 

-Responses: Please make sure that when you are replying that you leave something for your partner to reply to. Some people can write pages of RP and still manage to leave their partners nothing to reply to and it's quite frustrating.

 

-READ: Another kind of big one. Make sure you are reading what you're partner is posting. Both when in the plotting area so you know what they expect, and then in the RP as well. If your partner's character was an orphan as a young child DO NOT imply that he was a prince or some such. This is also very true for physical aspects. If you don't know, or something hasn't been brought up yet ask.

 

-Communication: Communication between players is more helpful than some people realize. It not only lets you know a bit more about your partners, but you can discuss scenes, descriptions, plot bunnies, kinks, do and don't, and in general meet really awesome people. We have a chat on the front page, and if you can't manage to get on at the same time, there is always PM

 

-Do Research: If you're playing an era or setting that you don't know much about wikipedia is more helpful than you can imagine. For example Ada is playing a mountain climber with me and has done research on illnesses that can affect them, what medication they should have, and what the side effects of said meds are.

 

-Be active with smut: REGARDLESS of your position (Seme, Seke, Uke) make sure you character doesn't just LAY there and take it.

 

-Characters: Character creation is a lot of fun, and you can go wild with it. Just make sure that you don't create a Mary-Sue/Gary-Sue. Essentially a character that is perfect or too powerful. EVERYONE (characters included) has flaws. A good rule of thumb is to have as many negative/weaknesses as you have positive/strengths.

 

-Respect: Please be respectful and courteous to your fellow RPers. This includes respecting their limits. If they're uncomfortable with BDSM, do NOT try to force them into it. (same for all kinks/fetish and anything else that might come up)

 

I Would Just Like to give Credits to:

++++"Shadowsfaith"++++

She's the one with this Idea,

I Hope It Helps The newbies like Me

[Gray Fullbuster]

very helpful tnx

[chibiblueberryknight36]

I will try my best... wish me luck!

[Guest OkataShin]

Characters must have flaws

 

 

I saw this section here and thought that I could do one too. Just to spend time.

 

I think that while it's good to get into a character's mindset so thoroughly, it's not particularly healthy to not list down a character's weaknesses either. I think physically listing them down at least would help you keep in touch with the character even further on, when you refer back to your application. It helps to keep your character grounded, in that sense, when you look back at your app.

 

Almost every RP requires some form of a weakness. Some people don't like to think of them, because roleplaying is their escape from their lives which have their weaknesses in them. If you look at your character sheet and see no weaknesses there, you might become so attached to your character that you might start god-modding. I mean, it's very natural for everyone, including myself, to want to be the best or the most perfect person around, but that's not realistic, nor is it fun for everyone else.

 

This leads to a good question: What is a weakness?

 

Using Wikipedia, they suggest: Weakness is a symptom used to describe a number of different physical or perceived conditions, including: lack of muscle strength, malaise, dizziness or fatigue.

 

Yes, I did underline perceived on purpose. The reason why, is a lot of times characters seem to have a lot of things wrong with them like being schizo, mentally unstable, can't remember their past, or any other number of soap opera drama reasons. This in of itself is not a bad thing; however, when not played properly (meaning doing basic research) these weaknesses tend to be highly romanticized and turned into making the character bad ass.

 

A lot of people are afraid to give their characters serious failings, but to be honest it is these failings that make a character more interesting.

 

So, I say the better term to use for weakness, is flaw.

 

A character flaw is a limitation, imperfection, problem, phobia, or deficiency present in a character who may be otherwise very functional. The flaw can be a problem that directly affects the character's actions and abilities, such as a violent temper. Alternatively, it can be a simple foible or personality defect, which affects the character's motives and social interactions, but little else.

 

Going further into this aspect, there are two sorts of flaws present in writing; minor and major. RPers tend to focus more on the majors.

 

What's the difference?

 

Minor flaws are imperfections which serve to distinguish the character in the mind of the reader / viewer / player / listener, making them memorable and individual, but otherwise does not affect the story in any way. This can be anything from having a thick accent, nervous reactions, etc. This is key to making a sympathetic character and breaking away from archetypes or stock weaknesses and over all should have a greater role in game play.

 

Major flaws are a much more noticeable and important hindrance which actually impairs the individual, whether physically, mentally or morally. Sometimes major flaws are not actually negative per se (such as devout religious beliefs or a rigid code of honour), but are classified as such in that they often serve to hinder or restrict the character in some way. Most common example used in a lot of RPs are Schizophrenia and amnesia. Major falls need to serve as some form of direction for your character, like how a villain causes their downfall or a paladin questioning his code of honour.

 

Moving away from the stock notions of amnesia, how about not being able to keep committed relationships? Or not being able to drive? Or being really smart and talented but being held back because everyone else says you suck? Also try to avoid being "bitchy" and "grumpy." This works well if one or two characters have this as an issue but if everyone has that angst issue, you'll end up with a game full of some very cranky people! If you wanna be more out there, if your character is over protective, how about extending that into be controlling?

 

There are also tragic flaws, most often expressed in Greek lore of how a hero's pride and arrogance most often brings their own downfall and normally death; such as Jason abandoning Medea and ends up dying destitute and a lone under a dry rotting Argos. Unless a story calls for it, most RPs generally don't take this route unless your name is Asmo.

 

In summary, remember: Don't play down your weaknesses or prevent them from ever coming up in play! Likewise, if your character is a mean sonofabitch but he is totally an angel around his friends, what's the point? Also make sure you try to balance things out between major and minor flaws. All of these styles help add personality to a character and allows you to move away from aminu styles.

 

Hope that it helped even a bit^^

[Heavyarms03]

This is more for the old school role players (gods I feel old now) and one that is stressed A LOT in my earlier days of role playing.

 

Player Knowledge and Character Knowledge are NOT the same. You as a player can read a scene or know a scene lay out because you talked with your partner and you know that there is this giant man eating plant behind the right door, and your character have been taking the right (directional) path... so what should your character do?

Take the right door because its still in character and if you go to the left door, its out of character and you used player knowledge for not wanting your arm damaged from a chomping plant.

 

I have done it in the past and its really hard to not keep doing it, but if you can know the difference between player and character knowledge game, role playing and other wise, can be way more exciting.

[Bardock]

I have been RPing for a long time (almost ten years... yup, I'm a nerd) and everything I read here is correct. I use chars from different shows, but although I keep them the same as the show/manga/whatever, I always had put my own little spin on them. So this is great advice. Well done.

 

However. ...

 

Just a small however...

 

We forgot one tip.

 

Have fun.

 

Thats one of the most important things in my book. If you want to spice up a RP, just talk to the person. Let them know.

 

Just thought I would throw that in there.

[MorbidSin]

Thank you so much for the helpful tips. I used to roleplay a lot, but I found myself in very short, uninteresting roleplays.

 

I'd like to try it out again, but I guess I'm kind of worried I'll have short responses. Roleplay really is an art, it takes a lot of effort and practice.

[Guest Linncii]

Wow it does, Thank you so much for your help :leaf9: