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How to Roleplay [Rewritten and More Awesome!]

 

Ok, so I decided to just go ahead and rewrite this because, well I feel like wasting time, and this seemed like a good idea to me at the time. So hopefully I'll have this written a little more clearer and better for everyone involved in reading to understand it fully.

 

Note:

 

This guide is written from my point of view and from experiences that I've had while rping. I've been rping for around nine to ten years, I think I have enough experience to write a good enough guide to help people. You may not agree with me, but please at least try to read through it. I usually give good reasons why I don't believe in something.

 

 

Introduction

 

Role playing is one of the things that I get the most pleasure out of doing. Up until I got to college, I used to role play on a regular basis, in fact, I used to role play continuously. These days, I don't have as much time dedicated to this noble past time. But I do try to keep up with the few rps that I do join. Unfortunately, sometimes I find myself without the time to even come online.

 

I'm not the best role player, but I'd like to think that I am one of the better role players out on the Internet today. I full heartedly believe in the theory that quality of the role play makes everything longer than it would if it wasn't up to par.

 

Useful Acronyms and Words

 

Rping = Role Playing

Mun = The "mundane" or the person playing the character

OOC = Out of Character

IC = In Character

Hit = An attack that damages or "hits" the character

Mun Bubbles/Brackets = Used when OOC; Are these ( ) Or (( )) Or [ ] (where it doesn't mess with the BBcode)

Mary-sue/Gary-stu = A character that is "perfect"

Thread = The grouping of several posts that are related to one topic or idea

Post = In a forum, it is the complete entry you make on a thread. In a chat, it's each paragraph you enter. Sometimes I accidentally switch, Post and paragraph, it's because I started with chats and moved to forums. Please excuse me if I confuse you, I don't me to do so on purpose.

Oldbie = A role player who has role plays for many years and has mastered several skills and has been role playing in a variety of ways.

Newbie = A role player who has just started role playing. They don't usually have many role playing skills and need a little bit of guidance and encouragement to grow as role players.

N00b = A role player who has role playing for many years but still hasn't mastered any skills, or doesn't care about role playing style or quality.

 

On Action Brackets:

 

I've always used action brackets, before I was talked into not using them anymore. Action brackets are not symbolized by: * *. Action brackets are like mun brackets are are used to separate out actions from speech. Oldbie role players used to use a wide variety of stylish brackets around their actions. Now, a lot of those oldbie players have left the role playing world for better and brighter futures or they have, like me, been influenced and have changed their ways. Often you don't see many action brackets, unless you find yourself on an older website that has action brackets listed as part of the criteria for role playing. People who use action brackets should not be considered to be n00bs, I used action brackets, look at my posts. Do I look like I'm a n00b? Just kindly tell them that you'd prefer them to write without action brackets.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by Khallayne

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Chapter 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

 

I'm fairly sure that nearly everyone in this forum knows or has got some sort of knowledge as to what these terms mean. But I'm going to pretend that I'm writing guide for people who have never come in contact with these terms before, so please bare with me.

 

Moding

 

My Definition: This occurs when one character has an unfair advantage over another character.

 

Popular Forms of Moding:

 

1)Forcing a hit

2)Blocking an attack without abiding by the general rule of length for length [Explained more thoroughly in Chapter 5]

3)Resurrection [Explained more thoroughly in Chapter 5]

 

Each is an unrealistic action of a character that makes that character 'better' than the other character. No one character is better than any other character. It depends entirely on the mundane person, the creators of the character, whether or not the character is 'better' than another, but not specifically the character itself.

 

For all of my examples, the n00b character will be portrayed by Red Text as red is often the color for error marking.

 

Example of Moding:

 

hits with sword

 

Critique:

 

Overlooking the fact that this 'post' has grammatical errors, this post doesn't even say anything about the character who is doing the action or what other character or where on that character this character is hitting with a sword. It provides 'us,' the readers, with almost no information about what is happening.

 

Example of Better Role Playing:

 

After feeling the blow to his arm, he managed to evade the rest of the attack with minimal damage. He quickly moved out of range of a second attack, he would not be surprised again. Moments ago, he had just been searching for a friend in the woods, and now he was in the middle of a battle. How did he miss the figure standing near that last tree he had passed? It didn't matter, he was under attack now, and he needed to be careful.

 

He pulled his weapon from it's sheath, and kept a watchful gaze on the other character. Any motion would cause him to react, he didn't want to attack if he didn't have to. It was not in his nature to strike someone down without giving them a chance to fight for themselves. But it was easy to see that the other person was not going to just leave after the attack. It was important that he now be rid of this intruder; he did not want to have to deal with this person later in his travels.

 

He moved in one direction and the other person moved in the opposite direction, keeping the stand off at the same distance. But he was the one at advantage, it wasn't long before the intruder was in front of a large tree trunk, after all the woods had several older trees. He immediately took to the offensive and moved quickly to attack from the front. He held his weapon out in front of him, and as the other person prepared to parry his attack, he quickly changed the angle of his attack and instead hit the other person with his shoulder, ramming the person into the tree that was right behind him. He had the other person pinned to the tree, and he turned his weapon around and used the blunt part of the weapon to quickly knock the other character out.

 

Critique:

 

Overlooking the fact that his post does contain some powerplaying sequences, this post is much longer than the three words that the other person typed. Furthermore, it explained what the character had been doing up until he was attacked, some of that character's personality, and what he did to deal with the problem of having to defend himself from being followed and attacked again [planning for future posts]. This post, despite some faults, was much better than the other post.

 

 

 

Godmoding:

 

My Definition: This occurs when a character becomes 'immune' to anything happening to the character and makes for a completely unfair advantage.

 

Popular Forms of Godmoding

 

1)Immortality/Doesn't die from a mortal wound

2)Being a God

3)Having God on one's 'side'

 

Example

 

The blunt object bounced off his forehead and did not knock him out. He just pretended to be knocked out so that he could follow the other person.

 

Critique:

 

While this post has much better grammar, it still doesn't have the length to counter any of the attack that happened to this character. Nor is it realistic in that a blunt object to his head would not knock him out.

 

I'd suggest saying something to the character's owner, but nicely, that he's godmoding. Please try to stay calm, the creator might not be just a random n00b and might just be a newbie who doesn't understand that he is not playing fairly. Take the time to try to explain to the creator that what he's doing isn't fair to your character nor any other character.

 

 

 

Powerplaying:

 

My Definition: When the other creator writes about actions that you did not write yourself, causing your character to do or say something that you may or may not want to happen.

 

Popular Forms of Powerplaying:

 

1)Making your character do something outrageous [Peeing on themselves, walking backwards, etc]

2)Making your character say something out of that character's personality [Manly fighter saying that he likes to wear pink dresses and go to balls, etc]

3)Making your character do something to their character [Like your character slapping their character]

 

While there are some circumstances in role playing that some powerplaying should be acceptable (such as implied actions or assumed normal actions such as looking towards a loud noise), most newbie role players don't know where the line from what is acceptable and what isn't. I'd suggest especially to beginners to stay away from anything that might be taken as powerplaying.

 

Example

 

He got up from being knocked out by the other person, and quickly tracked the other person down. He finally caught up the other person within twenty minutes and shouted at the person. The other person turned around quickly, with a look of fear in his eyes, and then the other person ran away from him in complete terror.

 

Critique:

 

Overlooking the fact that he couldn't possibly wake up right away from being knocked out nor track someone within twenty minutes [that doesn't give anyone enough time to 'get away' from someone who's knocked out] nor does he explain how he tracked the other person's character. This post gets longer, which is good, but why would the other character run away from this character? Didn't the other character knock out this character? It doesn't make sense.

 

Powerplaying, as I said, varies from situation to situation. If someone has made your character do something that you generally would not want your character doing, then please let them know. But do it in a nice way, most people will respond by apologizing and fixing their post.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by DragonicFlames

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Chapter 2: Character Design

 

Are you a simple person? Are you two dimensional? Do you not have a personality?

 

These are questions you should know immediately the answers to, likewise you should ask yourself these questions in reference to the characters that you create. Each character has it's own personality, traits, habits, style, and a wider variety of things that make up that character's whole being.

 

There's been a couple pieces of discussion that I've been in about how some people think up on the spot about what character they are going to be role playing, while that's not encouraged for beginners, that's also fine. Just as long as you have a good solid idea of what the character is like, what the character looks like, and what the character's personality is, then I don't have an qualms with people thinking up characters on the spot.

 

My process of character creation depends on what the plot play is about, I try not to use 'cardboard cut outs' of characters. I try not to use the same character for every role play that I'm in, more often than not, half of my characters don't fit the context of the role playing I'm applying to join. I know this happens to be a large issue in this forum with people who use the same character throughout their role playing experiences. I know you are more comfortable role playing a character that you've gotten really attached to, but maybe next time you try to join another role play, why don't you try something different? You might find out that you've gotten tired of playing the same character over and over again, and that you like making new characters.

 

Character's personality

 

This is the most important piece of your character. If your character doesn't have a personality, then you're character has nothing but a 'body.' There is no 'life' to your character. It doesn't have any wants or needs or any reason to do anything at all. It's also rather boring for someone to write about, wouldn't it be more fun to have a character with a crazy, upbeat personality that sings while taking showers?

 

You should ask yourself if this is a character that you want people to hate or to love, whether or not this character is friendly, shy, or a loner, if this character has the same morals and ethics as you do, what they sound like when they talk, what they move like, are they stubborn or passive, do they like challenges? There are a million questions that you can ask yourself about your character's personality, and a million more things about what doesn't exist in your character's personality. I've only listed out a few things, you should continually ask yourself different questions when creating different characters. It adds to your character is so many different ways, and we, the readers, will take notice that you've put effort into making your character original and appreciate you for it.

 

Character's History

 

What did you do this morning? When were you born? What kind of experiences have you had recently that make you who you are?

 

These answers probably come easily, likewise, they should come easily about your characters. When I said past, I'm talking from two minutes ago to their time of birth and everything in between. Everyone has a past and a future, and likewise should your characters. Once you give a character a past, lots of things become more implied like them learning how to speak, walk, deal with certain emotions, that they have had contact with other people before, it makes them become more real to the readers. But it's up to you to tell us what specifically your character has done in the past, we can't make assumptions that your character used to be a pottery artist and had seven brothers and two sisters. That is not up to us to know if you don't tell us about it.

 

I've come across a couple of people who have expected my character to be a mind reader, to know events of that character's past that were never stated. How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me about it? We, the readers, want to know the important events that shaped the life of your character. However, we don't want a biography about your character. We don't need to know that one time, when the character was at band camp... and then one other time at band camp... and then another time at band camp... these are items that aren't important to the role play and definitely bog down what the character is about, unless these 'factoids' are to be used as giving insight into why a character is doing something in the plot.

 

Furthermore, every character does not have a 'bad' past, where they've had a bad mom and dad or have been abandoned by someone they love. I'm tired of seeing mary-sue inspired pasts, just because you want attention doesn't mean you should take it out on your character. Abuse is nothing to be made 'fun' of and it sure isn't something you should take lightly because it makes your character 'special.'

 

Physical Looks of the Character

 

Your character should look somewhat like the history that you've given them. If they've had a hard life, they should have wrinkles, scars, or typical injuries. However, that does not give you the option to make a character completely covered in scars and in perfect health, scars tend to be a lot weaker (in my own personal experience) than regular skin and injuries do cause someone to be weaker. Hair, eye, and skin colors and tones all show what kind of ethnic background characters have. They should be described because they are important. Try to be realistic with colors, I've never seen a human with natural red eyes.

 

You should also specifically describe clothing, even if it's just a simple t-shirt, jeans, and shoes. People often forget to describe what their character is wearing, and if they are role playing with me, I will make my characters see a naked person. [Tough love I know] Clothing is something that express personality. You can tell a lot about a person by what they are wearing and how they are wearing it, not that you can make assumptions about how that person 'is' but you can make some conclusions about them.

 

I'd also suggest if you typically role play a twenty year old, blond, blue eyed female, that you try something different. Try role playing as a boy, as someone older, or someone who looks different. It will help you branch out into different character design if you pull yourself out of what you typically do when you join a role play.

 

We want a mental picture when you enter a role play, try to explain as much as you can without giving us a detail overload [if you find yourself describing stitching, you might be giving us too much detail about your character]. Also, remember that you have ultimately, an unlimited amount of posts that you can make within the rp, you can write more details about your character in other posts. I'd also advise that you remind everyone every once in a while what your character looks like by dropping simple description within a paragraph or two, so that everyone gets a refresher on what your character looks like. People do forget.

 

On homosexuality, please girls or guys, respect a role player's wishes. If he or she has a male character who is homosexual, then he's homosexual. He doesn't like girls, and he won't cyber with your character. If the character is straight, then don't try to flirt with him with a male character. He's still not going to cyber with you. I'm tired of hearing about male role players who have trouble getting people off their backs when they role play male characters.

 

On Cybering If you are trying to get sex through role playing, please leave. You don't want to get any better, you just want live action erotic fiction scrolling across your screen. It is a waste of time for you to even be reading this. Cybering is illegal for teenagers under their state or countries age limits, you could be prosecuted.

 

On Demons I realize that there is some sort of appeal to having a demon (or an angel for that matter) as a character, however, that doesn't mean your character is 'sexy.' If you've done any research into demonology, there are very few 'seducing' demons who may or may not look somewhat human. Anime do not give a good explanation to some demons or angels for that matter. Please try to look up what demons and angels might be like before you start in as a 'cat demon.'

 

On half, triple or more than that breed, I'm actually really embarrassed for most people who have these kinds of characters. Is it not good enough for you to have a character who is a vampire, that you must also add in something else to the equations? I've even had people who've asked me why 'Werepyres (which how is that a word?)' aren't good characters species. First, if a werewolf were to bite a vampire (to turn them) how can a vampire go from being the 'undead' to being alive? Second how can a werewolf go from changing into a large wolf (sometimes forcefully due to the moon) to something that flies and uses sonar to 'see' and drinks only blood to survive? The wolf and bat DNA are two different species of mammal that were 'designed (so to speak)' for different purpose. Hollywood isn't very good at being 'scientifical', even though they try to be. Furthermore, if they did breed, the creature that they would create would be like a mule, it wouldn't be able to make anymore of it's kind. It also would probably be very deformed. Half breeding does come with issues, and there are some things that are so incompatible, it's impossible for them to have even been bred together. Please try to be realistic with your half breeding, that's all I can ask from ya.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by SockPuppet Strangler

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Chapter 3) Extending Post Length

 

I'm of the opinion that quality results in longer posts. However, I don't believe that your posts should be filled with large words that you wouldn't naturally use in your typical every day language. First, a post filled with 'big words' looks like you used the thesaurus feature on Word. Second, words have different connotations depending on the context that they are used in, if you're using an unfamiliar word, you may be using it in the wrong context.

 

There are several ways for one to make a post much longer:

 

Surroundings

 

Your character isn't standing in white space, nor is he or she alone. Describe what you see in your mind's eye around your character. Are there buildings? Forests? And if so, what kind of buildings? What kind of trees? Are they large trees? Are the buildings all one color? What about what the character is standing on? What is in front of the character right now? What does the character see when he or she looks left or right?

 

These details add to the character's sense of presence in the setting. Also, don't be scared to write something based on your understanding of the setting that the creator of the role play wrote. Its more often than not, that the way you understand the setting changes how your character interacts in that setting. This leads to an 'awareness' of all the people in the role play where your character is currently compared with their characters.

 

Example:

 

He was facing the front of the grocery store with his hands in his pockets. He could hear the cars whizzing behind him on Main Street. He could see through the glass paneling that were decorated with signs that declared sales and warnings about buying alcohol for youth. People were standing at registers checking out people's items and taking money from them when they were finished counting up all the items. He could even make out the isles that were behind the cash registers, they were fully lined with items that had colored packaging dulled in color due to the glass. He could even see the back wall that was lined with boxes of what he assumed was fresh meat slices. He could hear the ting of the door as people stepped in front of the automatic sensor and the swish of the door opening to allow them entrance. It was unbiased; it opened for every person who happened across its path, even if they weren't going in the store.

 

Critique:

 

Ignoring the fact that we don't know what the setting is, we can see from this post obviously where this person is currently located. Possibly on a sidewalk, outside of a nondescript grocery store. Though it may be a little more detail than associated with the plot, but it gives insight into the character's awareness of his surroundings. Also it allows us to understand a part of his personality as he as personified the grocery store's door sensor.

 

Expressions and movements

 

Our faces are made up of several different kinds of muscles which allow us to express all sorts of emotions. What is the difference between someone who looks disgusted and them saying “That's gross” with a blank face? In written language, it doesn't look like there would be much difference between these too methods of expressing dislike about something, however if all the actors in all the movies that you've ever seen had the same facial expression, would you still like movies? Body language is the most important part of our communication, it's eight percent of our communication.

 

It is important for actors to show expressions and to gesture, likewise, it's important for your characters to do the same. Often times, simple verbal phrases like “Ow” and “I don't like that” can be simplified through one expression.

 

Furthermore if your character gestures or uses body language, we can not only visualize what that character is doing, but we can also sympathize with him. We know exactly how he feels just by his acting more than with words. Emotions are sometimes more physical than verbal.

 

To quote Marilyn Manson, “Use your fist, not your mouth.”

 

Example

 

He moved towards the ever opening door and stepped in the sensor's line of sight. As expected, the door slid open and he walked in the grocery store without much problem. But as soon as he walked into the store, he was immediately bumped into. He jerked his torso in the direction of the person who had bumped into him with a look of annoyance. By the time he managed to turn, the person had already walked out of the door without so much as a look back. The corners of his mouth turned downward as he stuffed his hands into his coat's pockets. Begrudgingly, he walked around an empty cash register.

 

Critique:

 

The language of this post describes annoyance and anger. It's very vivid in it's portrayal of what this character is feeling and the change in from the neutrality of standing outside the store to the anger of having someone bump into him to the annoying acceptance that there would be no apology. Not one word was spoken by the character to express these feelings, but you can still understand how this character is feeling.

 

I find that a lot of role players don't like to deal with NPCs, especially when those NPCs aren't mandatory characters in a thread. There are always other people in movies, the extras, that don't have anything to do with the main characters. They don't even interact with the main characters. It's necessary to have other people in existence with your character. Or else your character would be the only one in the entire world; how realistic is that?

 

Thoughts and Spoken Words

 

Thoughts, in my opinion, should always be dictated by italicization. These are internal feelings of characters. Furthermore, they should not be 'known' by the other characters in the role play. There are ways around having characters “know” thoughts of other characters, such as the other character's guessing at what the other character might be thinking. But do you know what other people are thinking at any one time? No. Don't role play as if your character is psychic.

 

As for external dialog, this should always be dictated with quotation marks if there are no action brackets. These are things that other characters can hear. Sometimes it's important for your character to tell one other character, in which the tone, how loud the voice is, and what is spoken changes. You do not speak in a monotone. In every day life, there are changes in who, how, and why you speak, likewise there should be changes in your character's tone and how loud it is. I've role played with people who have 'over heard' conversations from across a house. Unless that character has extremely good hearing, he or she can't hear everything that is spoken.

 

Example:

 

Alphabet soup. She wants Alphabet soup. He thought to himself, as he walked down the 'soup and canned items' isle. He located the section of the isle that was dedicated to the soup cans, and pulled his right hand out of his pocket to rub his chin as he searched the labels. It didn't take long before he found the soup and as he was about to pick up the soup with the hand he had just been using to rub his chin with, a woman's taloned hand snatched the soup can out from in front of him. He turned toward her, his hand still paused in midair. “Sorry, did you want this one?” She said when she looked up from the list in her other hand. “I didn't even see you there.” She said apologetically, as she handed the soup over to the hand that had been dangling. “I was so busy trying to calculate my total... I was lost in my own world...again.” Her voice got progressively quieter as she reached for another can of soup. He felt sorry for her, looking down at the can in his hand. “I...” he started to say, but by the time he looked up, she had already walked near the end of the isle. “Well, I guess that's that.” He said to the can, shrugging his shoulders. He turned to go back to the cash register.

 

Critique:

 

As you can see, the woman voice and tone is unknown until the second time she speaks. Furthermore, this woman didn't know that he was getting the can of soup because she did not read his mind. While this conversation could have been better, it still shows that there is a change in the way the woman speaks. Furthermore, the main character, the man, he talks 'to' the can in a finalized sort of way emphasized by the body language of shrugging his shoulders.

 

These are solid, basic paragraphs that took me maybe five minutes to write. It wasn't very hard to write them, as it was to think about what the character was doing and what he was thinking. A good starting point for writing a post is look at what you've already written for a character in other posts or paragraphs. It'll help keep the flow of what is going on and what is happening.

 

Basic Tips

 

1)Press enter twice after each paragraph.

2)Try to write 'expressions' through body language or facial movements

3)Don't be overly descriptive about the surroundings. It is the same as writing too much detail about clothing or appearance. If it really doesn't have too much to do with the plot, don't spend seven paragraphs talking about what is on the left of the character to then write seven more paragraphs about what is on the right of the character.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by DragonicFlames

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Chapter 4) Entrances: Character Sheets vs Paragraphs

 

I'm biased in this area, as I thoroughly dislike character sheets. Please read my reasons, and try to understand where I'm coming from. The other people who have posted in this OOC thread have already commented on character sheets. I'm an advocate of having for just character development but they should not be used as the entrance for your character. You should write an entrance to join a rp, not give a list of details about your character.

 

Character Sheets

 

Example

 

Name:

Age:

Sex:

Race:

History:

Appearance:

 

Why I am against this:

 

1)They can only be used on forums. You would not be able to use this format in role playing chat rooms.

2)It's rude in that it says that you can't be bothered to write an entrance for your character.

3)It doesn't allow for a good mental image of the character. Usually people use anime pictures or popularized images for what their character's appearance is while including extra details in words. Popularized images are forgettable. Other times, images are not available to be seen either due to human error or server error. Therefore the reliance on pictures is shaky because they may or may not always be where they've been linked.

 

Paragraph

 

Example:

 

This is one of my entrances from a while ago that was on Gaia:

 

He was definitely not normal, sort of like his family but even more so when compared to them. Pointy objects of all shapes and sizes were one of his many obsessions. In fact sometimes he’d find himself daydreaming about any sort of weaponry that could possibly be imagined. When he was little he wanted to become a master sword smith, but in today’s technology filled world, that little dream was plucked right out from his head and then beaten to death with salt and lemon juice poured into the wounds. Yes, he was the kind who collected all these pieces… just because they were shiny. He was a magpie for weaponry, and not because they could kill or that they had killed (a few of his collection had the blood stains on them to prove it), just because they were shiny…and pointy.

 

Unlike his sisters, he did not dress the same as they did. Instead he chose a much gentler approach to being odd. His face was scarred on the right side from a bad accident on his motorcycle that he had gotten when he was far too young to be riding it. He knew that now, and he knew that the five jagged lines that angrily traced the side of his face stood out in crowd more than any other oddity that he could possess (and yes he did possess them). The cuts had been from the branches and pieces of metal fragments that had lodged themselves into the right side of his face. He at least could see still, though he had to have a partial jaw reconstruction surgery, which sometimes ached when he chewed too hard on his food.

 

His hair had been a very light and wavy blonde color, before he had started playing with dyes and color. Now his hair was a blue mixture with pieces of green and purple floating around, always clipped to the back of his head. At least now it was long enough to reach in between his shoulder blades without leaning his head back. That had been an accomplishment in his book. It was like an old Scottish hair style, clipping your hair back, though most boys (emphasis on the word ‘boys’) thought it was a signal of his femininity. He sighed, briefly remembering an encounter with such an imbecile and vaguely remembering that he had been the one to still be standing at the end of it. Yes, he as much as he was a big softy with his sisters, he was just as hard and cold to people who disrespected him just because he chose to be different.

 

As of right now he was wearing plain blue jeans, though they were somewhat large and he had to wear a belt with them. It was funny when one stated “blue jeans” apparently the image of a clean, perfect pair seemed to swim into the mind of whomever it was that you were speaking to. That was not the case; his jeans were ripped in places and frayed in others. They were stained with Gebus knows what and an assortment of mysterious pieces of random colors splash in little spots everywhere. It was pretty much his uniform; he wore his jeans to pieces. If he didn’t, he felt like he was betraying their purpose in life. And what other purpose was it expected to do? Be a fashion statement? That was what shoes and shirts were for, definitely not what blue jeans were for.

 

As he thought about shirts, he looked briefly down at the shirt he was currently wearing. It was blue, a deep blue if anything with some sort of ironic statement about life in general in white writing. He had picked it up at a Spencer’s one time because it made him laugh; now it just served to cover up most of his other scars that covered his upper chest and part of his lower torso. Motorcycle accidents were not fun experiences, and neither was the recovery. His back and legs (for the most part) seemed to be the only things that weren’t particularly affected by the crash. And because of that, he chose to have branding done on his left shoulder blade. It was the date of his motorcycle accident and a tribal tattoo his sister had drawn that looped through the branding. It was the once piece of art he had on his body and it was supposed to be a reminder that accidents do happen.

 

Not only was he wearing a blue shirt, but over it was his riding jacket that also had more stitching it than the stitches he received. The artwork on the back had been permanently destroyed, but he had gotten a few of his older friends who had friends in the clothing business to fix it as best they could. The criss-cross stitching made it unique and no way would anyone else have something as unique as that piece. It was one of his favorite pieces to wear whenever and wherever.

 

Finally, the shoes. His shoes were a crossbreed between skatershoes and riding boots. The shoe itself was designed to be a skatershoe. It was simple in its gray and blue colors, and the laces had a golden oriental design. However, unlike a skatershoe, the soles were raised a little and there was some major tread on the bottom. He likes them and that’s what mattered.

 

He had found himself getting up around midnight and had been driving all over the country side till early this morning. It was probably around the time that everyone was getting up. Then he turned around, back to the town. If he disappeared for more than twenty-four hours someone would come looking. They didn’t trust him anymore, especially since he was riding on the same thing that had permanently scarred him. At least this time he was wearing a helmet that was supposed to withstand the damage of a fall…

 

He had been passing the tattoo shop when he noticed that his little sister had headed inside. Sighing, knowing that she would probably be a little too tempted for her own good, he found himself turning around. He parked the cycle at the curb in front of the barber shop next to the tat shop. He tugged off his helmet, flicked his hair out from under his jacket’s collar, and placed his helmet in the secret compartment under the seat of the bike.

 

He walked to the Tat shop, a mere five strides away from his bike, and gently opened the door setting off the bell. “Hey.” Malcolm said in a deep voice, greeting everyone.

 

Why I'm for paragraphs:

 

1)Role play is about writing skills. Entrances are like the beginning chapters of books. In every book you've ever read, they have all been written with paragraphs.

2)You can write every section [plus showing more of the character's personality and sense of reality] in a character sheet in a paragraph. There is no real reason to use character sheet for entrances when you can write everything out.

3)There is no expected minimum paragraph entrance unless the creator designates it.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by DragonicFlames

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Chapter 5) Fighting

 

I don't really like fighting while role playing. Usually, no one 'wins.'

 

Furthermore, if you are defeated, then you are defeated. Accept it. Resurrecting your character because your pride got hurt will only make you look foolish.

 

General Expectations

 

1)If you challenge someone to a fight, you should fight by their rules.

2)Don't be afraid to back of a fight, it doesn't make you any less of a person.

3)This is the Internet there is no such thing as winning or losing on here.

 

Styles of Fighting

 

Speed Fighting

 

This style is used in chat rooms only.

 

It's about who can overwhelm the other person [both with length of post and with amount of them] first.

 

Moding and powerplaying rules are usually suspended in a speed fight.

 

Example

 

<C1> Hits C2

<C2> Dojs C1's attack.

<C2> Repeatedly Hits C2.

<C2> Kicks C1 in the face

<C2> Knocks C1 Down

<C1> Side step.

<C2> Round house kick.

<C2> Face plant.

<C2> Steps on C1's throat and chokes.

 

These are usually finished [if they are between someone who can't rp well and someone who is advanced] within a couple of minutes. They rely on the typing and speed of the role player.

 

Turn Base

 

Turn Base is naturally what the forums use.

There is a set number of paragraphs per each action.

 

Example

 

Minimums:

 

Paragraphs: 5 sentences

Posts: 2 paragraphs (10 sentences)

Attacks: 7 paragraphs (35 sentences)

Parries or Blocks: 10 paragraphs (50 Sentences) [Must be longer than the attack]

Magic: 35 paragraphs ( 245 sentences)

 

Always mention the rules on moding, powerplaying, and godmoding. As well as what happens when a person does any of these things [like a default defeat].

 

Turn base is based upon taking turns. Once one person is done with their turn, the other person takes his. Usually battles last forever.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by DragonicFlames

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Chapter 6) Extras

 

Mary-sues and Gary-stus

 

These are types of bad character design. They are characters who are perfect in every single way. They have no 'bad' qualities. They are usually very beautiful, what ever that means, and 'everyone' wants to be with them or be like them. They live a perfect life, nothing goes wrong for them.

 

They are perfectly boring. There isn't anything interesting about these characters. They usually lack a personality as well as they are attention seekers. It's as if the universe revolves around these characters, or at least that's what is supposed to happen.

 

The Anti-Mary-sue-Mary-sue and the Anti-Gary-stu-Gary-stu.

 

These are characters who are perfectly imperfect. They are loners. Usually they have a tragic or sad past. They don't have friends, they don't like hanging around other people. Sometimes they are accompanied by animal companions. They usually have some sort of artistic ability. They wear dark clothing, or are label 'goth' or 'emo.' They are 'individuals.' They might even have a mental illness or a disability that does not hinder them unless they are looking to attract attention to themselves.

 

They are dull and overused characters. They are a dime a dozen, and are even more prevalent than the regular Mary-sue or Gary-stu model. They are in almost every rp, every story, or every piece of sad music. There isn't anything new or original about them. It's the same personality only different by who is writing about them.

 

These two types of Mary-sue and Gary-stu are all about some sort of attention seeking. You, the writer, not the characters want to feel special and accepted. Acceptance will not be gained through stereotypical characters.

 

Every person has both so good and some bad, not all bad and not all good. You as the writer must find that middle ground between where your character is human, neither 'imperfect' nor 'perfect.' You, as the writer, should create dynamic characters that have multiple sides to their personalities.

 

Magic Users

 

1)Never assume your character is more powerful than someone else.

2)Not every character species [iE Werewolves] can do magic

3)A character should have a history of being trained in magic in order to control it.

 

 

If there are other topics that you would like me to discuss in this section of my guide, please write me a note and I'll decide from there if I want to write about it in my guide.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

Navigation

 

Chap 1) Moding, Godmoding, and Powerplaying

Chap 2) Character Design

Chap 3) Extending Posts/Lengthing

Chap 4) Entrances (Playwrite (Character Profiles) vs Novelistic)

Chap 5) Fighting

Chap 6) Misc

Edited by DragonicFlames

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Things You Shouldn't Do

 

When Making a Roleplay

 

Read Pinned Topics

 

I can't stress enough the importance of reading this pinned topic:

 

Roleplay Approval Explanation

 

 

Stupid Rules

 

Try to avoid Stupid Rules as best as possible. These include:

 

"You may not post during the OP's Timezone's night-time."

This rule limits you not only to roleplayers of your own timezone, but also users that are on only in the day. Having this rule hurts you more than anyone else.

 

If you can think of any more, please inform me via PM.

 

Don't Ask People To Join/Approve Your RP

 

Asking others to join your RP is both rude and inconsiderate. The other person has every right to refuse, and you cannot say otherwise.

 

Asking an RP approver to approve your roleplay is, likewise, rude and inconsiderate. And most of all, do not PM an RP approver twice. If your RP is worth approving, it will be approved eventually. If not, wait for the one-week automatic approving.

 

When Joining a Roleplay

 

Be Sure To Have Read the First Post, and All Reserve Posts

 

This is very important. If you don't read all the reserve posts and the first post, you will most likely be denied after applying for the RP. Chances are, you broke a rule or you have been discovered in some other way. If you are accepted, it will only hurt you because you have no idea what to do without reading about the plot.

 

Don't Join an RP Before it is Approved

 

This is a basic rule of the Other Roleplays section. You may not apply for an RP until the RP has been approved. You will be denied, and definetely possibly frowned upon.

 

Be Sure to Keep Other Users in Mind

 

When making a character, do not join in an RP that you knw you'll only godmode or flame another user that has already joined or made the RP. You'll only cause the other members and OP grief.

 

When Roleplaying

 

Keep the Roleplaying Level in Mind

 

If you're joining a Literate RP, don't post one-liners. Make sure you are posting the correct style.

 

RP in the Correct Tense

 

If the roleplay is meant to be in past-tense, do not roleplay in present-tense. It is incorrect and will most likely get you kicked from the RP.

 

Don't Argue with the OP

 

If the OP wants to lead the RP in a certain direction, roll with it. It was their effort that started the RP, and argueing will not be tolerated. There are acceptions to this, such as the items listed in above sections.

 

Thankees!

Edited by Dragonhatchling

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Hello, I have come from some distant RP site that had no members. I have come here, and have noticed how some people are asking for ideas to add to their plot. Here is a guide for those confused people.

 

-----------------------------------------

Any Old Port in a Storm

 

The PCs are seeking shelter from the elements or some other threat, and come across a place to hole up. They find that they have stumbled across something dangerous, secret, or supernatural, and must then deal with it in order to enjoy a little rest.

Common Twists & Themes: The shelter contains the cause of the threat the PCs were trying to avoid. The shelter houses a Hidden Base (q.v.). The PCs must not only struggle for shelter, they must struggle to survive. The place is a legitimate shelter of some kind, but the PCs are not welcome, and must win hearts or minds to earn their bed for the night.

 

Better Late Than Never

 

Some bad guys have arrived and done some bad guy things. The PCs were none the wiser. The bad guys have now made good their escape, and the PCs have caught wind of it in time to chase them down before they make it back to their lair, their home nation, behind enemy lines, etc.

Common Twists & Themes: The bad guys escaped by stealing a conveyance that the PCs know better than they do. The bad guys duck down a metaphorical (or literal) side-road, trying to hide or blend into an environment (often one hostile to the PCs). If the bad guys cross the adventure's "finish line" (cross the county line, make the warp jump, etc.) there's no way to pursue them beyond it.

 

Blackmail

 

Usually through trickery (but sometimes by digging into the PCs' past), an antagonist has something to hold over the heads of the PCs and make them jump. This could be any kind of threat from physical to social, but it depends on the villain having something - even if it's information - that others don't have. Now, he is pulling the strings of the PCs, telling them to do things they don't want to. The PCs must end the cycle of blackmail, deprive the villain of his edge, and keep him temporarily satisfied while doing it.

Common Twists & Themes: The adventure hook involves the PCs doing the villain a good turn, which allows him to take advantage of them (very cynical!). To succeed, the PCs must contact other folks that are also being used. The PCs aren't the victims at all, but somebody they care about/are charged to protect, is.

 

Breaking and Entering

 

Mission objective: enter the dangerous place, and retrieve the vital dingus or valuable person. Overcome the area's defenses to do so.

Common Twists & Themes: The goal is not to extract a thing, but to destroy a thing or interfere with a process (kill the force-screen generator, assassinate the evil king, stop the spell from being cast, wreck the invasion plans, close the portal). The goal has moved. The goal is information, which must be broadcast or otherwise released from the area as soon as it is found. The job must be done without alerting anyone. The PCs don't know the place is dangerous. The PCs must replace the thing with another thing.

 

Capture the Flag

 

The PCs must secure a military target for the good guys. There are bad guys there that prefer not to be secured. The fundamental tactical scenario.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must assemble and/or train a force to do the job with them. The PCs are working with flawed intelligence and the target zone isn't as described. The PCs must coordinate their own efforts with an ally group (possibly putting aside rivalries to do so). The target zone includes a population of innocent people, fragile goods, or some other precious thing that mustn't be harmed in the crossfire.

 

Clearing The Hex

 

There is a place where bad things live. The PCs must make it safe for nice people, systematically clearing it of danger.

Common Twists & Themes: The bad things can't be beaten with direct conflict. The PCs must learn more about them to solve the problem. The Haunted House. The Alien Infestation. The Wild Forest.

 

Delver's Delight

 

The PCs are treasure-hunters, who have caught wind of a treasure-laden ruin. They go to explore it, and must deal with its supernatural denizens to win the treasure and get out alive.

Common Twists & Themes: The treasure itself is something dangerous. The treasure isn't in a ruin, but in a wilderness or even hidden somewhere "civilized." The treasure is someone else's rightful property. The treasure turns out to have a will of its own.

 

Don't Eat The Purple Ones

 

The PCs are stranded in a strange place, and must survive by finding food and shelter, and then worry about getting back home.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must survive only for a short period of time, until help arrives, the ship and/or radio is repaired, or some such thing (in "repair" scenarios, sometimes the PCs must discover some fact about the local environment that will make such repairs possible).

 

Elementary, My Dear Watson

 

A crime or atrocity has been committed; the PCs must solve it. They must interview witnesses (and prevent them from being killed), gather clues (and prevent them from being stolen or ruined). They must then assemble proof to deliver to the authorities, or serve as personal ministers of justice.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs are working to clear an innocent already accused (possibly themselves). The PCs must work alongside a special investigator or are otherwise saddled with an unwanted ally. Midway through the adventure, the PCs are "taken off the case" - their invitation/authority to pursue the matter is closed (often the result of political maneuvering by an antagonist). The climax is a courtroom scene or other arena of judgment. The scale is highly variable for this type of adventure, from a small-town murder to a planetwide pollution scandal.

 

Escort Service

 

The PCs have a valuable object or person, which needs to be taken to a safe place or to its rightful owner, etc. They must undertake a dangerous journey in which one or more factions (and chance and misfortune) try to deprive them of the thing in their care.

Common Twists & Themes: The thing or person is troublesome, and tries to escape or sidetrack the PCs. The destination has been destroyed or suborned by the enemy, and the PCs must take upon themselves the job that either the destination or their charge was meant to do when it got there. The person is a person attempting a political defection. Safe arrival at the destination doesn't end the story; the PCs must then bargain with their charge as their token (exchanging money for a hostage, for instance). The PCs must protect the target without the target knowing about it.

 

Good Housekeeping

 

The PCs are placed in charge of a large operation (a trading company, a feudal barony, the CIA) and must, despite lack of experience in such things, make it work and thrive.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs are brought in because something big is about to happen, and the Old Guard wants a chance to escape. The peasants, neighbors, employees, etcetera resent the PCs, because their method of inheritance looks outwardly bad and everybody loved the old boss.

 

Help is on the Way

 

A person (church group, nation, galaxy) is in a hazardous situation they can't survive without rescue. The PCs are on the job. In some scenarios, the hook is as simple as a distant yell or crackly distress signal.

Common Twists & Themes: The victim(s) is (are) a hostage, or under siege from enemy forces, and the PCs must deal with the captors or break the siege. There is a danger that any rescue attempts will strand the rescuers in the same soup as the rescuees, compounding the problem. The rescuees aren't people, but animals, robots, or something else. The "victim" doesn't realize that he needs rescuing; he thinks he's doing something reasonable and/or safe. The threat isn't villain-oriented at all; it's a natural disaster, nuclear meltdown, or disease outbreak. The rescuees can't leave ; something immobile and vital must be tended to or dealt with at the adventure location. The PCs begin as part of the rescuees, and must escape and gather forces or resources to bring back and proceed as above.

 

Hidden Base

 

The PCs, while traveling or exploring, come across a hornet's nest of bad guys, preparing for Big Badness. They must either find some way to get word to the good guys, or sneak in and disable the place themselves, or a combination of both.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must figure out how to use local resources in order to defend themselves or have a chance against the inhabitants.

 

How Much For Just The Dingus?

 

Within a defined area, something important and valuable exists. The PCs (or their employers) want it, but so do one or more other groups. The ones that get it will be the ones that can outthink and outrace the others, deal best with the natives of the area, and learn the most about their target. Each competing group has its own agenda and resources.

Common Twists & Themes: The natives require the competing factions to gather before them as pals to state their cases. The valuable thing was en route somewhere when its conveyance or courier wrecked or vanished.

 

I Beg Your Pardon?

 

The PCs are minding their own business when they are attacked or threatened. They don't know why. They must solve the mystery of their attacker's motives, and in the meantime fend off more attacks. They must put two and two together to deal with the problem.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs have something that the bad guys want - but they don't necessarily realize it. The bad guys are out for revenge for a dead compatriot from a previous adventure. The bad guys have mistaken the PCs for somebody else.

 

Long Or Short Fork When Dining On Elf?

 

The PCs are a diplomatic vanguard, trying to open up (or shore up) either political or trade relations with a strange culture. All they have to do is manage for a day or so among the strange customs without offending anybody . . . and what information they have is both incomplete and dangerously misleading.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs were chosen by somebody who knew they weren't prepared for it - an NPC trying to sabotage the works (pinning this villain might be necessary to avert disaster).

 

Look, Don't Touch

 

The PCs are working surveillance - spying on a person, gathering information on a beast in the wild, scouting a new sector. Regardless of the scale, the primary conflict (at least at the start) is the rule that they are only to watch, listen and learn. They are not to make contact or let themselves be known.

Common Twists & Themes: The target gets itself in trouble and the PCs must decide whether to break the no-contact rule in order to mount a rescue.

 

Manhunt

 

Someone is gone: they've run away, gotten lost, or simply haven't called home in a while. Somebody misses them or needs them returned. The PCs are called in to find them and bring them back.

Common Twists & Themes: The target has been kidnapped (possibly to specifically lure the PCs). The target is dangerous and escaped from a facility designed to protect the public. The target is valuable and escaped from a place designed to keep him safe, cozy, and conveniently handy. The target has a reason for leaving that the PCs will sympathize with. The target has stumbled across another adventure (either as protagonist or victim), which the PCs must then undertake themselves. The missing "person" is an entire expedition or pilgrimage of some kind. The target isn't a runaway or missing/lost - they're just someone that the PCs have been hired to track down (possibly under false pretenses).

 

Missing Memories

 

One or more of the PCs wakes up with no memory of the recent past, and now they find themselves in some kind of trouble they don't understand. The PCs must find the reason for the memory lapse, and solve any problems they uncover in the meantime.

Common Twists & Themes: The forgetful PCs voluntarily suppressed or erased the memories, and they find themselves undoing their own work.

 

Most Peculiar, Momma

 

Something both bad and inexplicable is happening (racial tension is being fired up in town, all the power is out, the beer supply is drained, it's snowing in July, Voyager still has fans, hordes of aliens are eating all the cheese), and a lot of people are very troubled by it. The PCs must track the phenomenon to its source, and stop it.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs are somehow unwittingly responsible for the whole thing. What seems to be a problem of one nature (technological, personal, biological, chemical, magical, political, etc) is actually a problem of an alternate one.

 

No One Has Soiled The Bridge

 

The PCs are assigned to guard a single vital spot (anything from a mountain pass to a solar system) from impending or possible attack. They must plan their defensive strategy, set up watches, set traps, and so on, and then deal with the enemy when it arrives.

Common Twists & Themes: The intelligence the PCs was given turns out to be faulty, but acting on the new information could result in greater danger - but so could not acting on it, and the PCs must choose or create a compromise. The PCs learn that the enemy has good and sympathetic reason for wanting to destroy the protected spot.

 

Not In Kansas

 

The PCs are minding their own business and find themselves transported to a strange place. They must figure out where they are, why they are there and how to escape.

Common Twists & Themes: They were brought there specifically to help someone in trouble. They were brought there by accident, as a by-product of something strange and secret. Some of the PCs' enemies were transported along with them (or separately), and now they have a new battleground, and innocents to convince which guys are the good guys.

 

Ounces of Prevention

 

A villain or organization is getting ready to do something bad, and the PCs have received a tip-off of some sort. They must investigate to find out more about the caper, and then act to prevent it.

Common Twists & Themes: The initial tip-off was a red herring meant to distract the PCs from the actual caper. There are two simultaneous Bad Things on the way, and no apparent way to both of them - how to choose?

 

Pandora's Box

 

Somebody has tinkered with Things Man Ought Not, or opened a portal to the Mean People Dimension, cracked a wall at the state prison, or summoned an ancient Babylonian god into a penthouse. Before the PCs can even think of confronting the source of the trouble, they must deal with the waves of trouble already released by it: monsters, old foes out for vengeance, curious aliens who think cars/citizens/McDonald's hamburgers resemble food, and so forth.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs can't simply take the released badness to the mat; they have to collect it and shove it back into the source before it the adventure can really end. The PCs are drawn in to the source and must solve problems on the other side before returning to this one. A secret book, code, or other rare element is necessary to plug the breach (maybe just the fellow who opened it). A close cousin to this plot is the basic "somebody has traveled into the past and messed with our reality" story.

 

Quest For the Sparkly Hoozits

 

Somebody needs a dingus (to fulfill a prophecy, heal the monarch, prevent a war, cure a disease, or what have you). The PCs must find a dingus. Often an old dingus, a mysterious dingus, and a powerful dingus. The PCs must learn more about it to track it down, and then deal with taking it from wherever it is.

Common Twists & Themes: The dingus is incomplete when found (one of the most irritating and un-fun plot twists in the universe). Somebody already owns it (or recently stole it, sometimes with legitimate claim or cause). The dingus is information, or an idea, or a substance, not a specific dingus. The PCs must "go undercover" or otherwise infiltrate a group or society, gaining the dingus by guile or stealth.

 

Recent Ruins

 

A town, castle, starship, outpost, or other civilized construct is lying in ruins. Very recently, it was just dandy. The PCs must enter the ruins, explore them, and find out what happened.

Common Twists & Themes: Whatever ruined the ruins (including mean people, weird radiation, monsters, a new race, ghosts) is still a threat; the PCs must save the day. The inhabitants destroyed themselves. The "ruins" are a derelict ship or spaceship, recently discovered. The "ruin" is a ghost town, stumbled across as the PCs travel - but the map says the town is alive and well.

 

Running the Gauntlet

 

The PCs must travel through a hazardous area, and get through without being killed, robbed, humiliated, debased, diseased, or educated by whatever is there. The troubles they encounter are rarely personal in nature - the place itself is the "villain" of the adventure.

Common Twists & Themes: The place isn't dangerous at all, and the various "dangers" are actually attempts to communicate with the party by some agent or another.

 

Safari

 

The PCs are on a hunting expedition, to capture or kill and elusive and prized creature. They must deal with its environment, its own ability to evade them, and possibly its ability to fight them.

Common Twists & Themes: The creature is immune to their devices and weapons. There are other people actively protecting the creature. The creature's lair allows the PCs to stumble onto another adventure.

 

Score One for the Home Team

 

The PCs are participants in a race, contest, tournament, scavenger hunt or other voluntary bit of sport. They must win.

Common Twists & Themes: The other contestants are less honest, and the PCs must overcome their attempts to win dishonestly. The PCs are competing for a deeper purpose than victory, such as to keep another contestant safe, or spy on one, or just to get into the place where the event goes down. The PCs don't wish to win; they just wish to prevent the villain from winning. The event is a deliberate test of the PCs abilities (for entry into an organization, for example). The event becomes more deadly than it's supposed to.

 

Stalag 23

 

The PCs are imprisoned, and must engineer an escape, overcoming any guards, automatic measures, and geographic isolation their prison imposes on them.

Common Twists & Themes: Something has happened in the outside world and the prison security has fallen lax because of it. The PCs have been hired to "test" the prison - they aren't normal inmates. Other prisoners decide to blow the whistle for spite or revenge. The PCs are undercover to spy on a prisoner, but are then mistaken for real inmates and kept incarcerated. The PCs must escape on a tight schedule to get to another adventure outside the walls.

 

Take Us To Memphis And Don't Slow Down

 

The PCs are on board a populated conveyance (East Indiaman, Cruise Ship, Ferry, Sleeper Starship), when it is hijacked. The PCs must take action while the normals sit and twiddle.

Common Twists & Themes: The "hijackers" are government agents pulling a complicated caper, forcing the PCs to choose sides. The hijackers don't realize there is a secondary danger that must be dealt with, and any attempt to convince them is viewed as a trick. The normals are unhelpful or even hostile to the PCs because they think the PCs are just making matters worse.

 

Troublemakers

 

A bad guy (or a group of them, or multiple parties) is kicking up a ruckus, upsetting the neighbors, poisoning the reservoirs, or otherwise causing trouble. The PCs have to go where the trouble is, locate the bad guys, and stop the party.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs must not harm the perpetrator(s); they must be bagged alive and well. The bad guys have prepared something dangerous and hidden as "insurance" if they are captured. The "bad guy" is a monster or dangerous animal (or an intelligent creature that everybody thinks is a monster or animal). The "bad guy" is a respected public figure, superior officer, or someone else abusing their authority, and the PCs might meet hostility from normally-helpful quarters who don't accept that the bad guy is bad. A balance of power perpetuates the trouble, and the PCs must choose sides to tip the balance and fix things. The "trouble" is diplomatic or political, and the PCs must make peace, not war.

 

Uncharted Waters

 

The PCs are explorers, and their goal is to enter an unknown territory and scope it out. Naturally, the job isn't just going to be surveying and drawing sketches of local fauna; something is there, something fascinating and threatening.

Common Twists & Themes: Either the place itself is threatening (in which case the PCs must both play National Geographic and simultaneously try to escape with their skin, sanity, and credit rating) or the place itself is very valuable and wonderful, and something else there is keen on making sure the PCs don't let anyone else know. Other potential conflicts involve damage to the PCs' conveyance or communication equipment, in which case this becomes Don't Eat the Purple Ones.

 

We're On The Outside Looking In

 

Any of the basic plots in this list can be reengineered with the PCs on the outside of it. Either the PCs are accompanying other characters in the midst of such a plot (often being called on to defend the plot from the outside, as it were), or they are minding their own business when the others involved in the plot show up, and must pick sides or simply resist. For instance, with Any Old Port In The Storm, the PCs could already be enjoying (or native to) the shelter when a strange group arrives. If the "the PCs are unwelcome" variant is employed, then perhaps the PCs will be the only voice of reason to still the religious fervor, racial prejudice, anti-monster sentiment, or whatever else is the source of conflict.

Common Twists & Themes: The PCs find themselves on the receiving end of the adventure. Take any of the plots here and reverse them, placing the PCs in the position where NPCs (often the villain, fugitive, etcetera) normally are. Instead of hunting, they must be hunted. Instead of fixing, they must avoid getting "fixed" themselves (ow). Alternately, leave a classic plot intact but turn the twists upside down, making them twistier (or refreshingly un-twisty).

 

---------------------------------------------

 

Hope this helps!

 

Edited by ~?Why?~

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who loves zoolander? i do.

Taking in account of what others have said, and since my previous guide ran away, I have recreated it one last time before I leave.

 

No sarcasm included.

 

 

 

SO. WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU.

 

1. Grammar Guide

2. Basic Introduction Guide (Subname: Teslyn is a Narcissist.)

Edited by Teslyn

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1. A VERY BASIC ROLEPLAYER'S GUIDE TO GRAMMAR.

 

Here, we're going to cover the most common mistakes as succinctly as possible.

 

1. Their, There, and They're.

 

their: denotes possession. :: That is their house.

there: is a location. :: Her car is over there.

they're: is a contraction. It means 'they are'. :: They're twins.

 

 

2. Your, you're.

 

your: denotes possession. :: Is this your book?

you're: like, 'they're, it is a contraction. It means 'you are'. :: You're going to the movies?

 

 

3. Apostrophe 'S's

 

Apostrophes are tricky little buggers. Sometimes, an apostrophe denotes possession. At other times, an apostrophe is a contraction for word + is.

 

An example is: Here's an example. The 's' in here's really just means that it is actually: Here is an example.

 

An example of ownership is: That book is Susie's. OR; Susie's book is that one.

 

 

4. Its and It's

 

its[: without an apostrophe, its denotes possession. :: Its eyes are black.

it's: with an apostrophe, it's is actually just a contraction. It means 'it is['. :: It's a pity that we lost the game. (Which REALLY MEANS: It is a pity that we lost the game.)

 

 

5. Using 'An' .

 

You use 'an' before a vowel, or a consonant acting as a vowel (i.e: 'h' and 'y'.)

 

Examples: That is an awesome car.

Secondary Example: There are sixty minutes in an hour.

 

 

6. Run-On Sentences and Comma Splices

 

Now, I find these are always super-tricky ones. So, I found a website that, while it's rather long-winded, explains it much better than what I would say.

 

click here

 

 

7. Commonly Misspelled Words

 

A skien of silk, or a skein of silk?

 

Which one is correct?

 

Just remember: 'I' before 'e' except after 'c'.

 

Now which one is correct?

 

NOTABLE EXCEPTION;

their

 

&&--

 

SPELL CHECKERS.

Are your friends. I use them all the time. I have a shitastic memory, and I'm probably a million times worse than any two of you put together at spelling. But you know - GoogleChrome and Mozilla Firefox both have spell-checkers.

 

(:

Edited by Teslyn

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2. Basic Guide to Writing an Introduction (Code Name: Teslyn is a Narcissist. Really.)

 

user posted image

 

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i found it and you're going to read it.

yes, you are.

right.

now.

 

!An Illiterate’s Guide to Literacy

Last Update: April 15, 2008

 

Table of Contents

I. Table of Contents

II. Introduction

III. First Things First: The Introduction

IV. The Beat of the Drummer: Plots

V. S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G: Spelling

VI. So, who are you? : Characters

VII. I have six sides and you hate me: Writer’s Block

VIII. It was a dark and stormy night: Descriptions

IX. 1 2 3 8: Order

X. Free at last: Conclusion

XI. Note to Literate role-players

XII. Additions by Others!

 

!Introduction

 

Alright, since you’re here that means that you’re willing to accept help on going from illiterate to literate. This is good because it shows that you’re willing to work to get to a higher level, most people will only complain but you have become brave and asked for help. For those who don’t really know, role-playing is when two or more people get together with one or multiple characters that interact and speak with each other, formulating a plot as they go along or going by one that was decided before they started. There is one major part to a role-play: introductions. An introduction can decide how your entire role-play will go; the other person (people) will judge you on your character, your writing style, and most of all your creativity!

 

In the further subjects there will be much more length and detail so if you’re not truly dedicated to this drop out now.!

 

 

!First Things First: The Introduction

 

For those who are beginner role-players, the introduction is the most important part of the role-play (aside from the plot). This gives you a setting, characters that interact, and as the title says, starts the role-play. When you’re typing your introduction, you need to (of course) introduce your character. Though there’s a trick to doing it in style. While typing up your introduction, try to think of the setting your character is in. For this example, say it’s a haunted house. Is your character scared? What time of day is it? Why are they there? Do they like haunted houses? What are they feeling? Thinking? Get inside your character’s head for the best introduction.

 

A way that you can strike up a good idea for interesting and new things in your introduction is by doing something you probably do daily: listen to music! Though you may not realize it, when you’re listening to music you may picture things in your mind, or maybe the lyrics give you an idea. Either way it gets your mind going and your imagination to spark.

 

When writing your introduction, try to avoid it being too short. If you’re the first one to post the introduction, then try to make it a reasonable length. I don’t know about you, but you can’t fit the setting, character, and the mood into one introduction. If you do, I’d like to see it look good. If you’re a Literate role-player try to keep your introduction at three good paragraphs (that’s what I’ve figured the average to be). A note on this, quantity is not better than quality. No matter what anyone says, a three-paragraph introduction that has wonderful flow, characters, etc. is better than a twenty-three-paragraph introduction with nothing but fluff.

 

To start off your introduction, try to avoid ‘Erik got up…’ or something of the like; start it with something original, like this:

 

“For the first time in hours, the swathe of blankets moved, releasing a low groan. On the bedside table, the alarm clock continued its shrill duty as the youth’s eyes opened.”

 

It’s much better than just:

 

“Erik woke up to hear his annoying alarm clock, eyes opening slowly to see only a wall of blankets still around him.”

 

It will add not only length to your introduction but it sounds much more nicely. Another thing you should try to avoid doing is always starting off with ‘Erik’ or ‘he’; it will get boring after a while. Find more creative words for it, ‘the youth’ is a good example of it, though you could also turn the sentence around so instead of saying ‘Erik got out of bed slowly, groaning as he did so due to the morning’s blinding light.’ You could say, ‘Slowly, Erik rose from the bed, groaning from the direct exposure to the morning light.’ If you start off with ‘he’ or ‘Erik’ every time you’ll get boring. Repetition is a good tool though not not not not not not not not not not like that. (Multiple ‘not’s intended.) If you’ve ever been falling asleep while reading and re-read the same sentence, it is the equivalent of repeating ‘he’ or ‘Erik’.!

 

 

 

!The Beat of the Drummer: Plots

 

Though it is debatable, most people believe that a good, solid plot is necessary for a good role-play. This may be true for some but not all. Plots can vary from romance to violence and more often than not, just an outline. Plots can vary from being made up as you go or being decided upon before the role-play starts. Either way, the plot needs one thing: conflict. This conflict is between characters, inner conflicts, or even conflicts with nature, though either way there’s a conflict. For the plot to be good, the conflict needs to be good. For example, a stereotypical conflict with little background or depth isn’t fun. Teachers vs. Students isn’t new. However, Teachers vs. Teachers is new, teachers don’t usually fight so it rises the questions ‘why’, ‘how do they fight’, ‘over what’, etc.

 

When you’re making a plot, think of the same things as when you’re writing an introduction, what’s the setting? What type of role-play is it for? Take into consideration that different people have different characters with different personalities. You can’t immediately assume two people will fall in love because they’re there, be specific with what happens and how it happens. Also, try to make it sound appealing to the ear; just as your posts need a flow your plot needs to have a flow and rhythm to it, too. If your plot is dull and boring, your role-play is going to be dull and boring. If your plot flows and has a good idea to it, then your role-play will flow and have a good idea to it. If you want a good role-play, have a good plot.!

 

 

 

!S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G: Spelling.

 

Though it may seem like a silly thing to be worried about, spelling is actually a fairly large part of role-playing. If you misspell a word it could come out as something totally different. Or the person you’re role-playing with might not even understand what you’re saying. If you send someone a post that is like this: “she wlkd dwn the hllway, hr long blck hr plled bck in a pny tail.” No one will want to role-play with that. The English language is here to be used; it’s a tool for use to properly and efficiently send messages to each other and to record things. Role-playing is for fun but it may not be fun for someone to have to go through that and have to decipher what you’re saying. Be fair to the other role-player, spell out your words and be patient when typing. This mistake is one of my own, I will often try to type faster than my ability allows; the result is spelling errors (and a fairly noisy backspace key). People can make a mistake, that is understandable, but it’s not acceptable to butcher the language on purpose. Take your time and when you find a good role-play you will feel much more accomplished with your well thought-out and typed posts than ****py half-hearted posts.!

 

 

 

!So, who are you? : Characters

 

The way people develop their characters is all different, you can base them off of someone you know in real life, you can base them off a person in a book, movie, video game, or even after yourself. Whether they’re based off of something (or someone) or you made them up yourself they’re your character and there are plenty of things characters need: a background (what happened in their past? Why are they like how they are now?), a personality (how do they react to other people? What is their view on life?), a physical description (hair color? Eye color?), family (everyone has family whether you like to admit or not), and of course, a place in the role-play. Let’s get started on each of them.

 

Backgrounds. What does this word mean to you? The definition from dictionary.com says: one's origin, education, experience, etc., in relation to one's present character, status, etc.

With this in mine, please take a note of something very important: not all characters live the same life so your character should have the same history as every other character in the forums. Yes, I understand it’s hard to come by original ideas and it’s hard to think of something someone hasn’t already thought of, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the same ‘my father beat me’, ‘I cut my wrists’, ‘I think I’m fat’, or even ‘I was sexually abused’. Though there is a lot of crime in the world, it’s not that popular. Not everyone has abusive parents, not everyone cuts himself or herself. Yes, there are ‘emo’ people but not everyone is emo. There are people who are optimistic. On the note of optimism, not everyone lived completely rainbows and butterflies, there are ups and downs to everyone’s life, try not to make them too… Cliché.

 

Personality. This is another field that is so typical. For girls, it’s usually mysterious and kind but if you anger her she’s unstoppable, right? Do you know how many girls in the world are actually like that? The answer is very few. Take into consideration that most girls do have explosive tempers that can rage on for days, they aren’t always kind girls when they’re not mad. There are different types of people other than just the girl that every guy wants to be with. There are people that hardly anyone likes that are hardly ever seen in a role-play. Think of your characters are real people because that is what they are. They live, they breathe, they eat, and they reproduce. Just because they only live in a virtual world doesn’t mean they’re any less real than anything else. They are real in that world, so think of them as real people. In reality, how many people are actually nice? Think of it in that perspective and you’ll have much more interesting characters. Consider that not everyone acts how they look and that people may have complex personalities.

 

Appearance. This is the big one that everyone worries about. Is my character attractive? Does the other person like my character’s appearance? Though appearances can be different from skin color, to eye color, to hair color, to facial structures, there are so many people still that make characters who are the same as every other character. A girl with long black hair, blue eyes, skinny frame, and a pretty face is so over-used that it should be erased from everyone’s memory as a description. Yes, people do have black hair but that’s not the only color. Blue is one of the most unpopular eye colors as well, what are the chances that so many people will have blue eyes? Very little. Brown eyes and brunette hair are the most popular eye and hair colors, though why do we have a thousand blue-eyed blonde-haired or black-haired people running around? A lack of creativity is the answer to this question. When you make your character try to avoid things that are normal. Make your character have green eyes instead of blue, maybe even brown. All of the colors are available to you for eye color and hair color; it doesn’t have to be natural.

 

Still on the subject of appearance, I’d like to go ahead and state that the ‘emo’ and ‘scene’ stuff is way too typical. Everyone in a role-play now a day is ‘emo’ or ‘scene’ or ‘goth’, don’t make your character like everyone else. Make him or her stick out from the others, have a prep or a skater (still too overused, but not as bad). With the appearance also take into note that your character doesn’t have to be a male model or a gorgeous woman. If everyone in the world was beautiful there wouldn’t be many role-players, so don’t make everyone in a role-play beautiful. Be the brave one and make a character with acne issues as many people have, or maybe even mental issues. People have faults and everyone has a physical fault.

 

Family is probably the one thing that no one likes to talk about, though since it’s an essential part of your character, you need to hear a little about a family. Not everyone’s family is abusive and not everyone comes from a rich household. The world does have abuse and the world does have aristocrats but that doesn’t mean every single parent is either abusive or an aristocrat (or both), there are people in poverty who love their children to death and there are middle-class parents who would never lay a harmful finger on their child even if someone held a gun to their head. Be creative with your character’s family, incorporate their best friend into the family, they don’t necessarily have to have a real family. They could be an orphan whose only family is their friends, or they could only have a church family; either way they have a family of some sort. Family is one of the biggest parts of your character’s history; it affects how they were raised and what they were taught as a child and how they’ll react to things now that they’re older. Family is a huge piece of someone’s life; so don’t forget the family of your character.!

 

 

 

!I have six sides and you hate me: Writer’s Block

 

Those two words can be your own personal hell as a role-player, though there’s one important thing to remember about Writer’s Block: IT WILL PASS. If you experience Writer’s Block inform your role-play partner of it so that you don’t keep them waiting for a response. If there’s something that sparks your imagination, such as music, then sit and listen to music, don’t think of the role-play, just listen to it and relax. That last word is probably the largest part of getting rid of Writer’s Block - relax. Just relax, calm down from the role-play, take a little break and let your imagination run free in your mind. When you return, if you are still experiencing Writer’s Block, go to another role-play or think of a book you’ve read, have they done something you could do? Re-read the other person’s post and relax, just be patient and you’ll get over the Writer’s Block, it won’t last for the rest of your life.!

 

 

 

!It was a dark and stormy night: Descriptions

 

Writer’s Block will attack you more than likely when you’re describing something. Descriptions are important to a role-play, if you can’t describe things then how can you tell the other person what your character looks like? Or where they are? Take into mind that your description can be rough for suspense reasons or it can be very detailed so that they know all that they need to know or so that you can form a mental image in your mind. When you’re typing up a description picture what you’re describing in your mind, it helps a lot and may spark your imagination a little bit more. Just like everything else, your descriptions need to have a flow to them; a flow to everything will make things more interesting. If your muse is music as mine is, then type to the beat, or even form a beat in your head while you’re typing, that could help you with your flow.!

 

 

 

!1 2 3 8: Order

 

Keeping things in order is important; if you are talking about something and then skip to something completely different it will completely destroy your chance at making sense. This is not only frustrating to see but it isn’t very pretty and can ruin a role-play. Since role-plays are a lot like stories, think of the plot line of a story: complications first, then climax, and then the resolution. That is order, if you have resolution, complications, then the climax then things won’t make sense. Try to keep things in order, if you’re talking about the wind, don’t talk about his/her shoes next.!

 

 

 

!Free at last: Conclusion

 

I have covered pretty much the basics of Literate role-playing; there isn’t much to it besides that, though I will suggest that you practice before hopping into an actual role-play. Though I know that this guide wasn’t that long at all to cover everything there is to know about Literate role-playing, it should help push a few people from the level of illiterate to Literate. Though this guide is over with, I will offer to help anyone who wants further help or spot correction (correction in a specific field) with their role-playing. If you feel that you need tutoring on how to become a Literate role-player, feel free to PM me up here or IM me on AIM (xx Skittle Bish), or just request so on the board. Thanks to those who have actually read through this entire guide, I hope that it can help you get to the next level.!

 

 

 

!Note to Literate role-players

 

This guide is open for contribution, if you feel something is missing type it out in a paragraph and send it to me, I'll read through it and if I agree with you that it should be added I'll add it on. All suggestions are appreciated and loved. Also, fellow Literate role-players interested in tutoring is greatly appreciated and all help is accepted.!

 

 

 

!Additions by Others

 

None yet.!

 

 

 

An Illiterate's Guide To Literacy is copyright of Pandex (ExpectoPatronum) of RPG-D. If you steal it, I swear to God I will hunt you down and kill you. >:C

If any modifications are made, then you must first contact the creator, Pandex.

Edited by Khallayne

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Khay’s Very Basic Guide to Longer Posts!

Hey guys! I haven't read this over yet, I just finished writing it. If you notice some mistakes, don't be afraid to point them out. xd.png But no mistakes with the 'comma before and'... In Canada, we're allowed to do that, and I know it can be a pain if you aren't from Canada but I like it. tongue.gif I'm not trying to teach people to write in a literate or advanced style. I'm simply trying to show people how they can lengthen their posts.

 

Hey guys! I know I’m doing this project, and I might be asking things of all of you that you guys just aren’t accustomed to. I’m just realizing that if you’re always writing one liners, perhaps writing larger posts is going to be quite a challenge; thus here is my horrible, horrible guide!

 

To start things off, the most important thing that has to be in a post is something that someone else can work with to reply to. Meaning, you have to write something that another character can either find as engaging, or that another character can really work with.

 

If you were role-playing with someone and they did: “Nuka went to lay down.” That isn’t very engaging at all, and all you have is that character laying down. How is someone going to find something good to answer with? It just doesn’t work. A simple way to improve this post (which is horribly short) is to throw it into a context. What is happening around them for them to go lay down? For my example, I’m going to use it as a reason for fear, but there are plenty of other different ways to do this. “They were yelling; he could hear them. Slowly he felt his ears go back as he crept towards the wall, staying low to the ground. Once arrived, he allowed himself to rest gently upon the floor, eyes watching the others as they fought. He didn’t want to be a part of it.

 

Okay! So which post seems easier to answer to? In the first one, you only get that he laid down upon the ground. In the second, you get the context, how he feels about it all (his body language would describe fear or discomfort). A character could now use that to make their post easier to write. They could bring their character in with the context that they were uncomfortable too, or that they were trying to soothe the other. There are plenty of others ways too! Just keep trying to think of how you would react in a situation, or how a person with your character’s personality would react in a situation to work things out. That should help you out!

 

Now that everyone knows that they need to give the other role-players something to work with, let’s work on making those posts longer! I know a lot of you have posts that are mostly made of dialogue. Well, dialogue is great in giving someone else something to write with, but it isn’t the only thing that can help your posts. Other things are: emotions, thoughts, the surroundings, etc. All these work together to give you a longer fleshed out post that is more realistic than you had before.

 

I’m going to show you how you can integrate these things into a post to make your own posts longer The post below is the one that I am going to be answering:

The man stared down at the woman, glaring at her as the rain fell down around them. His eyes were black as coal; his fingers clenched at his side. “Are you the thief that stole my wares, wretch,” Ceaid spat at the woman. There was no sense of warmth in his voice, not even a feel of kindness. The man was certain that she’d admit to her crimes; for if she didn’t, she would have to pay the price.

Now isn’t that a lovely little post? Well, now I’m going to show you the basic reply that most people would give to a post like that. The one-line reply. I am taking the point of view that my character is lying through her teeth. 8)

 

”I am not that thief,” Irazalis lied.

 

The first question I would ask to this is: what is Irazalis feeling? Also, depending on that emotion, how would she speak? And, how would that emotion affect her reaction? What happens when you feel a certain emotion? Think about how your body reactions and put that into the post. So let’s add emotion to that post.

 

”I am not that thief,” Irazalis spoke with as much confidence as she could muster. Her stomach was tying itself into knots, cold sweat running down her neck as fear settled deep within her chest. She forced her breathing to remain steady, and stared into his eyes with what she prayed was an innocent look.

 

Hey! Now we are talking, aren’t we? We went from a basic post, to adding in emotions, and how a character would react because of those emotions. That added in quite the amount of words there, and also improved the quality. Good job! Let’s add in a few of the character’s surroundings and how they are going to affect her. We can also add in how she might react to them.

 

Irazalis felt the rain combing through her hair and dripping down her face as she watched the man walk towards her. It was wet, and she felt miserable. The sound of his footsteps on the cobble stone echoed like war drums through the air. Her eyes flickered through the darkness to try and find a place to hide; yet there was nothing but an old box down the closed and deserted market street.

 

”I am not that thief,” Irazalis spoke with as much confidence as she could muster, sweeping her wet hair from her face with a flick of her wrist. Her stomach was tying itself into knots, cold sweat running down her neck as fear settled deep within her chest. She forced her breathing to remain steady, and stared into his eyes with what she prayed was an innocent look.

 

Whoohoo! Two paragraphs now and we still have a plethora of options available to us to integrate in our post. We’re on a roll! So, let’s now add the character’s thoughts, or even hints of it in the writing. This is a great way to personalize your writings and make them (hopefully) a bit more interesting. It also aids in character development which is what every role-player should thrive for.

 

I’m caught… She thought to herself as the man walked towards her. Doesn’t he look like the friendliest bloke alive, her train of thought continued. There was no way that she was getting out of this one alive! Of that she was most certain. However, that didn’t mean that she ready to simply give up. Irazalis felt the rain combing through her hair and dripping down her face as she watched the man walk towards her. It was wet, and she felt miserable. The sound of his footsteps on the cobble stone echoed like war drums through the air. Her eyes flickered through the darkness to try to find a place to hide; yet there was nothing but an old box down the closed and deserted market street. Just as the rain washed away the muck on the ground, Irazalis felt her hope trickle away.

 

”I am not that thief,” Irazalis spoke with as much confidence as she could muster, sweeping her wet hair from her face with a flick of her wrist. Yeah, because he’s really going to believe that one… Her stomach was tying itself into knots, cold sweat running down her neck as fear settled deep within her chest. She forced her breathing to remain steady, and stared into his eyes with what she prayed was an innocent look. She couldn’t let him see that she wasn’t telling the truth. If he found out about her, she was roast meat! Worst than roast, she would be like a sausage; an unknown mesh of things shoved into a small confined place! This was not good…

 

Hey hey hey! This is really turning in to be a long post! Now I don’t expect every one of you to be able to make it that long, especially not on your first try!

 

I’m going to stop this right here for now, but I’ll add more on to it in a later date. There are plenty of other ways in which you can make your posts longer. A few examples of these are: what is the other character doing? Does your characters have any quirks? If so, add them in there! If they are always running their hand through their hair when they are nervous, make sure to add that in. Your character’s appearance! That adds more if you describe your character. Adding in your own personalized style of writing, and writing just for fun will also help with this.

 

The important things to avoid are: powerplaying, godmoding, doing actions that another character can’t react to (or is forced to suffer), making your character too much of something (the prettiest, the clumsiest, the most annoying, the most powerful, the one with the most largest wings and that is bigger than all the rest, etc. people aren’t going to enjoy role-playing with something like that), saying that another character is feeling something when they aren’t, knowing that a character is a bad guy/good guy without that character previously showing it (I know some people have great intuition for that type of thing, but come on, it really ruins the fun), etc. I’ll touch some of these things in the later additions to the guide. happy.gif

 

Until then, have fun writing!

Edited by Khallayne

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Since we have too many pinned topics, this guide will be allowed to float around the forums. =) We're also opening it to member ideas, so people can comment and add in their own ideas. If you want to add another section to this guide, tell one of the moderators (RP, me, the other globals, though it may probably just get sent back to me), and we will go over it, and either approve or deny it, and move it near the top. =)

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Could you change the font size of Teslyn's section? I've already got my font zoomed quite a bit because of my eyesight and it's still a bit hard to make out.

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It says that this is open for comments, so...merp.

 

I'd just like to say that this guide is extremely helpful for any RP'er, new ones especially. When I first began RP'ing, I didn't know where to start, but this guide helped quite a bit.

 

I like that DragonicFlames added a section on Anti-Sues, as they are even more common than Sues, and, sadly, they are mentioned much less.

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Yeah, this whole topic is incredibly helpful. I've recommended all my students read at least a few posts here. happy.gif Even I have been able to grab some great ideas. It helped me 'add' to my RP vocabulary; I have a bad tendency to use the same words over and over in longer RP posts. rolleyes.gif

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Just a thought:

 

~Many new peeps who come to DCF seem to have the impression that their RPs will get approved in a day, or in one look... and many times, this is not the case. I've seen numerous cases where, after someone gives them critique, they post something like, "There, fixed. Can this be approved now?" Perhaps some people are just very eager, but I'm pretty sure that some don't understand that approving usually takes at least a week. While this waiting period is a good way to sort of (if I may say) 'root out' those who aren't willing to follow through with their roleplays, it may be a good idea to state somewhere on a pinned topic that it is very rare for a roleplay to get approved in one day, and most users can expect the process to take at least a week.~

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