Post by Kit on Jul 21, 2011 22:55:57 GMT -5
Here are some things to keep in mind when you are roleplaying.
God-modding and Meta-gaming
These are two huge rp no nos. God modding is essentially taking control of another character both directly and indirectly. This means you can't make another person's character walk, talk, dodge, or anything. They aren't yours to control. This includes insta-hits which will be covered later.
Meta gaming is when you let outside information have an effect on your character. Remember, you are not your character. Just because you know somebody else is a bad guy doesn't mean your character does.
Give and Take
Roleplay is a give and take relationship. Whenever you post, you want to make sure there is something in your post for another person to build off of. A roleplay is no fun if only one person is instigating every little thing that happens while the other is giving one line replies.
The art of fluffing
Fluffing is a skill learned over time. Fluffing is simply adding more to a sentence (fluffing up the sentence) to make it more interesting.
NO fluff : "Yes" replied Saya.
SOME fluff : "...yes" Saya replied with a sigh, her shoulders sagging.
LOTS of fluff : "...yes, I understand" Saya replied with a defeated sigh, her shoulders sagging as her master's words sank in and her eyes locked onto the floor so she would not meet her master's disappointed glare.
As you can see, the fluffy sentences give you a much better sense of what is going through the characters mind and how they are feeling. Fluffy sentences are more fun to read and easier to reply to.
Beware of over-fluff[/b]
While having too little is no fun to read at all, having too MUCH can be very frustrating. Having three paragraphs to describe your character turning their head is simply unnecessary.
Try to avoid One-liners
While we all know and appreciate the fact that ‘quality is better than quantity’, please try to avoid one-liners. While they can be good for a quick rp, they can also be incredibly hard for others to reply to. And let’s face it, not much quality can fit into one line of text.
Repeating words[/b]
Try to avoid using the same word repeatedly in one post. This mainly applies to adjectives, but can be applied to other words as well. (such as names, common nouns, adverbs, and the word 'said' )
Don't strain yourself trying to replace repeated words, but using synonyms makes your post more interesting to read.
Use your Surroundings
When you are replying, you can mention your character's reaction to the surrounding area. Describe the area, especially if your character is on the move. Have your character interact with the area, lean on rocks, climb trees, look at buildings..... Not only does this help visualize the area, but it offers other roleplayers something to build on.
Reactions
When replying to someone else, make your character react to what they have just done/said. How does your character respond? Do they step back in shock? Smile? What do they say? What are they thinking?
Giving a reaction also makes it easier for the next person to reply – they can react to your reactions and it gives them some idea of what’s going through your characters mind; what they’re feeling (like shock, fear, etc.).
Five Senses
Everyone has five senses - touch, taste, smell, see, and hear. Try to utilize as many as possible while you roleplay. Mentioning your character's senses will not only give the other roleplayers a better idea of the surrounding area, but they will also learn a bit more about your character's personality and have more fun reading your post.
Splitting Reply
If you have a lot to say, breaking your reply into multiple paragraphs makes things easier to read. If you are replying with more then one character, give each one their own paragraph. Also use a new paragraph if there is any time skip, no matter how small.
Make Thoughts Obvious
Sometimes it can be hard to tell when your character is thinking something. Make sure that your characters' thoughts are obvious by either italicizing their thoughts or splitting the thoughts from the paragraph or some other mark.
Original:
It was gone. All lost, with no chance of return. Even he....even he couldn't have survived this she thought with grief.
Thoughts marked:
It was gone. All lost, with no chance of return. Even he....even he couldn't have survived this she thought with grief.
OR
It was gone. All lost, with no chance of return. 'Even he....even he couldn't have survived this' she thought with grief.
Now you know exactly where the character's thought begins and ends. Try not to use quotation marks, as they mark actual speaking, not thoughts.
Fighting: No insta-hits
Fighting is a very tricky thing to roleplay. Avoid insta-hits. That's when your character attacks and hits in the same post, without giving the other roleplayer a chance to dodge.
EX: Saya lunged at the demon, thrusting her blade into his stomach.
This is actually an indirect form of god-moding. Here is the same sentence rewritten.
Saya lunged at the demon, her blade poised to strike his stomach.
A few changed words is all it needed. Now the other character can either get hit or dodge.
Mary-Sue and Gary-Stu[/u]
This is the nickname given to 'perfect' characters. Avoid at all costs.
This character can dodge every attack, do the impossible, and have just the thing to get out of every situation. They do no wrong, are always right, and apparently cannot die or get hurt. Roleplaying with these 'perfect' characters is no fun and not realistic. If you're fighting, expect injury. Your character shouldn't suddenly develop a power that is perfect for the occasion, or see/find something that happens to be exactly what they need.
Spell Check
Re-read your post and double check for spelling/grammar errors. Mozilla auto-checks this. If you are having trouble, type your reply in word, check it there, then copy paste it into the reply box. Nobody likes to read sloppy posts. Nobody is perfect, and errors will occur, but reading a paragraph where every other word is either spelled wrong or grammatically incorrect is very frustrating.
Be Aware of Others
Make sure you're reading the other roleplayers' posts, even if they aren't interacting with your character directly. Things they say and do may end up affecting you, or they might be trying to join you or get you to join them. If you are joining a roleplay that has already started, try to get in as smoothly as possible. That means, don't just pop out of nowhere and say hi. Be creative in how you join in. Maybe your character lives in that town the current rp-ers have just arrived at. Or maybe you're a shop keeper to the store they just entered.
Avoid Self Roleplay
Don't put yourself in a corner and only roleplay with yourself. This can be very frustrating and boring. Try to interact with others. That is the point of roleplaying! If you double or triple, try to split up your characters so you aren't tempted to rp with yourself. If that isn't an option, just make sure to interact with others. If you don't then what was the point of replying to the post?
Introductory Posts
If you are starting a new thread or introducing your character into an active thread, describe the setting; your surroundings.
-Give whoever is replying an impression of where you are; what’s it like? Are there many people around? Is it night or day? What’s the weather like? Hot or cold? This makes it easier for the other player to reply; they know what’s going on, they have something to go on.
-Be specific ( but don’t go overboard ). There’s no need to describe every single detail, but describe things that may be important.
- Of course, say what your character’s doing –their actions- walking, running, sitting, dancing...whatever. Mention how they’re feeling; mad, sad, happy, etc. Say what they’re thinking; what’s going through their mind right now?
The first couple of posts are always the hardest, but by including their actions and even the general aura they’re emitting ( can’t you tell when someone’s angry or happy even without them telling you unless they are covering it up? ) it makes it easier to reply to.
However, as previously mentioned, don’t go overboard with the descriptions – it’ll get incredibly boring to read.
READ
Simple, right? But reading books can help improve your writing. Even reading other people's roleplays can help. Don't copy the author entirely but look at how they write, how they describe things, introduce characters, etc.
Read, write, keep practicing and you can improve your roleplay skills and develop your own writing style.
The more you roleplay, the better you will get. As they say, practice makes perfect.
~~~~~
God-modding and Meta-gaming
These are two huge rp no nos. God modding is essentially taking control of another character both directly and indirectly. This means you can't make another person's character walk, talk, dodge, or anything. They aren't yours to control. This includes insta-hits which will be covered later.
Meta gaming is when you let outside information have an effect on your character. Remember, you are not your character. Just because you know somebody else is a bad guy doesn't mean your character does.
Give and Take
Roleplay is a give and take relationship. Whenever you post, you want to make sure there is something in your post for another person to build off of. A roleplay is no fun if only one person is instigating every little thing that happens while the other is giving one line replies.
The art of fluffing
Fluffing is a skill learned over time. Fluffing is simply adding more to a sentence (fluffing up the sentence) to make it more interesting.
NO fluff : "Yes" replied Saya.
SOME fluff : "...yes" Saya replied with a sigh, her shoulders sagging.
LOTS of fluff : "...yes, I understand" Saya replied with a defeated sigh, her shoulders sagging as her master's words sank in and her eyes locked onto the floor so she would not meet her master's disappointed glare.
As you can see, the fluffy sentences give you a much better sense of what is going through the characters mind and how they are feeling. Fluffy sentences are more fun to read and easier to reply to.
Beware of over-fluff[/b]
While having too little is no fun to read at all, having too MUCH can be very frustrating. Having three paragraphs to describe your character turning their head is simply unnecessary.
Try to avoid One-liners
While we all know and appreciate the fact that ‘quality is better than quantity’, please try to avoid one-liners. While they can be good for a quick rp, they can also be incredibly hard for others to reply to. And let’s face it, not much quality can fit into one line of text.
Repeating words[/b]
Try to avoid using the same word repeatedly in one post. This mainly applies to adjectives, but can be applied to other words as well. (such as names, common nouns, adverbs, and the word 'said' )
Don't strain yourself trying to replace repeated words, but using synonyms makes your post more interesting to read.
Use your Surroundings
When you are replying, you can mention your character's reaction to the surrounding area. Describe the area, especially if your character is on the move. Have your character interact with the area, lean on rocks, climb trees, look at buildings..... Not only does this help visualize the area, but it offers other roleplayers something to build on.
Reactions
When replying to someone else, make your character react to what they have just done/said. How does your character respond? Do they step back in shock? Smile? What do they say? What are they thinking?
Giving a reaction also makes it easier for the next person to reply – they can react to your reactions and it gives them some idea of what’s going through your characters mind; what they’re feeling (like shock, fear, etc.).
Five Senses
Everyone has five senses - touch, taste, smell, see, and hear. Try to utilize as many as possible while you roleplay. Mentioning your character's senses will not only give the other roleplayers a better idea of the surrounding area, but they will also learn a bit more about your character's personality and have more fun reading your post.
Splitting Reply
If you have a lot to say, breaking your reply into multiple paragraphs makes things easier to read. If you are replying with more then one character, give each one their own paragraph. Also use a new paragraph if there is any time skip, no matter how small.
Make Thoughts Obvious
Sometimes it can be hard to tell when your character is thinking something. Make sure that your characters' thoughts are obvious by either italicizing their thoughts or splitting the thoughts from the paragraph or some other mark.
Original:
It was gone. All lost, with no chance of return. Even he....even he couldn't have survived this she thought with grief.
Thoughts marked:
It was gone. All lost, with no chance of return. Even he....even he couldn't have survived this she thought with grief.
OR
It was gone. All lost, with no chance of return. 'Even he....even he couldn't have survived this' she thought with grief.
Now you know exactly where the character's thought begins and ends. Try not to use quotation marks, as they mark actual speaking, not thoughts.
Fighting: No insta-hits
Fighting is a very tricky thing to roleplay. Avoid insta-hits. That's when your character attacks and hits in the same post, without giving the other roleplayer a chance to dodge.
EX: Saya lunged at the demon, thrusting her blade into his stomach.
This is actually an indirect form of god-moding. Here is the same sentence rewritten.
Saya lunged at the demon, her blade poised to strike his stomach.
A few changed words is all it needed. Now the other character can either get hit or dodge.
Mary-Sue and Gary-Stu[/u]
This is the nickname given to 'perfect' characters. Avoid at all costs.
This character can dodge every attack, do the impossible, and have just the thing to get out of every situation. They do no wrong, are always right, and apparently cannot die or get hurt. Roleplaying with these 'perfect' characters is no fun and not realistic. If you're fighting, expect injury. Your character shouldn't suddenly develop a power that is perfect for the occasion, or see/find something that happens to be exactly what they need.
Spell Check
Re-read your post and double check for spelling/grammar errors. Mozilla auto-checks this. If you are having trouble, type your reply in word, check it there, then copy paste it into the reply box. Nobody likes to read sloppy posts. Nobody is perfect, and errors will occur, but reading a paragraph where every other word is either spelled wrong or grammatically incorrect is very frustrating.
Be Aware of Others
Make sure you're reading the other roleplayers' posts, even if they aren't interacting with your character directly. Things they say and do may end up affecting you, or they might be trying to join you or get you to join them. If you are joining a roleplay that has already started, try to get in as smoothly as possible. That means, don't just pop out of nowhere and say hi. Be creative in how you join in. Maybe your character lives in that town the current rp-ers have just arrived at. Or maybe you're a shop keeper to the store they just entered.
Avoid Self Roleplay
Don't put yourself in a corner and only roleplay with yourself. This can be very frustrating and boring. Try to interact with others. That is the point of roleplaying! If you double or triple, try to split up your characters so you aren't tempted to rp with yourself. If that isn't an option, just make sure to interact with others. If you don't then what was the point of replying to the post?
Introductory Posts
If you are starting a new thread or introducing your character into an active thread, describe the setting; your surroundings.
-Give whoever is replying an impression of where you are; what’s it like? Are there many people around? Is it night or day? What’s the weather like? Hot or cold? This makes it easier for the other player to reply; they know what’s going on, they have something to go on.
-Be specific ( but don’t go overboard ). There’s no need to describe every single detail, but describe things that may be important.
- Of course, say what your character’s doing –their actions- walking, running, sitting, dancing...whatever. Mention how they’re feeling; mad, sad, happy, etc. Say what they’re thinking; what’s going through their mind right now?
The first couple of posts are always the hardest, but by including their actions and even the general aura they’re emitting ( can’t you tell when someone’s angry or happy even without them telling you unless they are covering it up? ) it makes it easier to reply to.
However, as previously mentioned, don’t go overboard with the descriptions – it’ll get incredibly boring to read.
READ
Simple, right? But reading books can help improve your writing. Even reading other people's roleplays can help. Don't copy the author entirely but look at how they write, how they describe things, introduce characters, etc.
Read, write, keep practicing and you can improve your roleplay skills and develop your own writing style.
~~~~~
The more you roleplay, the better you will get. As they say, practice makes perfect.
