A Humble Guide to Roleplaying

aominecchi

Edgebabby
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Hello everyone! :lol:

This is a very basic guide on how to role-play, written entirely by myself, and is intended for beginners. Though, veterans might find the information provided useful as well. I'll be updating this guide as frequently as I can, with further information. Hence, consider this guide incomplete.




000. TABLE OF CONTENTS

001. RP BASICS & ETIQUETTE
I. What is Roleplay?
II. OOC Does Not Equal IC
III. Consent
IV. Respect Other RPers
V. Godmode (de)activated!
VI. Godmode Part 2

002. FORUM ROLEPLAY
I. Prologue
II. Basics



001. RP BASICS & ETIQUETTE


Roleplay Etiquette refers to all the rules that apply, written or unwritten, In Character (IC) or Out Of Character (OOC) whenever you participate in an RP. To beginners, such terms may be confusing, and it's totally understandable. Don't fret yourself over it. Instead, take it slow, and you will improve in no time! I will begin with the basics, so you can familiarize yourself better with those terms.

I. What is Roleplay?
Roleplay is assuming the role of a character and writing, acting, or playing as that character would. There are many forms of roleplaying: gaming console, live action roleplay, tabletop roleplay, text-based roleplay, forum roleplay, and on and on.


II. OOC Does Not Equal IC
First, you need to differentiate the meaning between OOC and IC. Out of Character (OOC), is you! The real you; the person behind the screen. Whatever happens in RP, it is not personally directed at you but at your character; the one you created. In Character (IC) is the 'personality' you take (or think of... as acting) of the character you are RPing as. In reality, you may not be an asshole of gigantic proportions. However, in RP you may be just that. It is important to tell apart between the two. Or as I say, whatever happens in RP, stays in RP.

Now, it is also very important to remember that, in roleplaying, your character can be different from you. New roleplayers find it easy to create “themselves” as characters. This can very easily lead to destructive RP behavior, though! For example, a player with a self-character may take offense at another character disliking the self-character. Read what I mentioned above?

IC does not equal OOC. Keep that in mind in order to have an enjoyable roleplaying experience. Just because a character dislikes your character does not mean that RPer dislikes you. A fight between RPers does not mean characters have to start disliking one another (though it may be easiest to avoid drama by avoiding the roleplayer).



III. Consent
Roleplay is all about consent! You wouldn't want something horrible to happen to your character without beforehand agreement, would you? Likewise, your RP partner does want anything to happen to their character without giving the OK first. No one can force you to type anything you don't want to type. By roleplaying out your reactions, you are implicitly giving the other roleplayer consent to treat your character a certain way. Your character becomes a part of not just your story, but someone else's as well.

Oh, and, just because consent is implied, it DOES NOT mean you have to accept every kind of RP that comes your way. If you find the RP going in a direction you are not comfortable with, message the other person and inform them immediately. Once they are aware, the two of you can negotiate some way to steer the roleplay onto more neutral grounds. Or in the worst case "Fade to Black" wherein you both agree on the final outcome of the scene without actually roleplaying it all out.



IV. Respect Other RPers
Since RP is a social activity, not everything is about you - your character. There are other people involved; real, just like you. So, don't steal the spotlight. It takes two to tango. What makes roleplay fascinating is that the storyline you are trying to develop may be supported or opposed by the other characters you run into. Which brings us to... Open yourself up to consequences. We are all here to write a story together. There is no winning or losing. No one likes someone who avoids consequences of their actions or insists on "winning" all the time. People enjoy RPing with someone who brings in depth and diversity into their roleplay and makes it a fun experience for all. Therefore, accept responsibility for your IC actions!

But most of all, be respectful in private messages and other OOC interactions. Roleplay will not always go your way. Not all RPs will meet your perfect standards. There is no reason to get insulting or abusive over it. The same holds for interactions in public forums, group chat and the like.



V. Godmode (de)activated!
Don't try to be Superman in your roleplays. Okay, maybe you can, but only when the setting is right! However, unrealistic characters is a real disease that has killed thousands of RPs. Either your character is a jack of all trades or an overpowered anthropomorphic alien from the future, who is benevolent and kind and wouldn't hurt a fly and... (You get it I hope) or a 'God', your RP partners will flee as soon as possible. Remember what you read above? RP is about interaction. If your character can do everything, knows everything, there is no reason for your character to interact with other characters. Similarly, no one really likes a know-it-all. Similarly, no character is perfect, no character is all-powerful, no character is invincible, and no character is above consequences. Their morality cannot be black or white, as there are gray areas too, and that's what make them realistic.

Godmoding refers to several types of bad roleplay as an umbrella term. All godmoding attempts to shift the roleplay in the godmoding player’s favor. In essence, godmoding is any attempt at giving a roleplaying character an advantage that does not normally exist in-game. The word comes from video games, where godmode includes “features such as invincibility, unlimited ammunition or lives, or similar power boosts” (Godmoding). Forum roleplay players can’t use exploits or cheat codes to power-up their characters — but certain RP behaviors can achieve virtually similar results. So... Yeah. Don't go do that.

Metagaming is when you gain information through OOC means like talking to your friends about this amazing new RP they are part of. Only information gained via roleplay by your character, ICly, can be used.



VI. Godmode Part 2
Let's get into godmoding a bit more extensively.
Types of Godmoding:
  • Godmodding is godmoding specific to character creation, skills, and certain situations (e.g., combat).
  • Powerplaying is godmoding by controlling another roleplayer’s character without permission.
  • Metagaming is godmoding specific to the use of OOC knowledge in roleplayed actions, behaviors, thoughts.
  • Retconning is godmoding specific to erasure or alteration of past events.
The advantages gained by godmoding can be:
  • Against other players and their characters — e.g., the super-powered beast-hulk who smashes any challengers in a fight, no matter what.
  • Against the game world and its realism rules — e.g., the 12 old magician who can suddenly defeat a previously unbeatable enemy.
  • Against the environment — e.g., the teenager in a high school town RP who never references or writes about being in class and instead works full-time, despite a truancy policy being enforced in-game.

Now that you know what Godmoding is, and how to achieve that, don't go full terminator mode. These examples were not put there for you to follow them, but for you to rather avoid them.




002. FORUM ROLEPLAY

I. Prologue
Roleplay has always been popular, especially with the rise of social media platforms such as Tumblr and Facebook. However, not everyone is accustomed to Forum Roleplay; it is actually the most 'ancient' forms of RP on the internet and our older friends may remember it as 'Play-by-post'. In fact, Forum RP is possibly one of the least-understood and least-utilized role-playing methods available. This kind of RP is vastly different to that of roleplay games or platforms, but the mechanics remain the same. Hence, I have written this guide to help out all those people that are checking out our forum right now and feel utterly lost if not confused.

I will explain in depth and guide you through the steps, so I highly advise you read this before joining an RP. You are not expected to read the whole post as it is considerably long and detailed, but I have tried my best to make this experience as painless as I can. Please, do take a while to read at least the process.

Lastly, feel free to post criticism. Even if I disagree, I will try to come up with valid arguments.


II. Basics
A forum RP is a "forum role play". Basically, it is a form of progressive story telling conducted on a forum through posts, where a group of people are involved.

There are plenty of conglomerate sites focusing on having a wide base of themes, most notably Roleplayer Guild and Roleplaying Gateway. With the wide selections available at these sites, a player is almost guaranteed to find a story that interests them. If there isn’t one there yet, one can be started, and there are usually players to participate. The possibilities on a large site are endless! Then, there are the smaller forums and the tightly-knit groups of RP enthusiasts. Quite a few forums have developed specifically for one role-playing theme, with every bit of the forum devoted to that game. These can range in subject from sprawling quests to intricate puzzles; settings may be in Middle Earth, or Pern, or an entirely original setting. Last, the third group in this discussion is the fan/writer’s forum. Places like award-winning Speculative Vision, with a membership of over 900 and everything from writing discussions to off-topic ‘pets’ threads, and an old and elaborately constructed series of role-plays; or smaller, younger forums like Fifthwind Forums, where the focus started on writing and publishing, and role-playing has somehow become an integral part of all that. These places blend role-playing, writing, and fandom into a fun and friendly environment. Writers’ forums often offer a uniquely useful version of role-playing. Fifthwind Forums has a ‘Role-Playing School,’ and many of Speculative Vision’s experienced players are happy to coach a newbie through the first few adventures.

Role-playing a unique character builds voice, develops an understanding of fictional interactions, and can be an excellent practice arena. There are no premade stock characters here; a player’s imagination is key. The focus is not only on the game, but on writing, characterization, and plotting.
CHARACTERS: In general, each player plays and develops his or her own character. Characters may be original creations of the player, or may be based on a character taken from canon if the setting and rules provide this option. Each community may have its own rules regarding the process of character creation and either allow characters to be liberally created and used with minimal review, or require characters to undergo a review process in which administrators examine the character application and decide whether to approve or reject the application. In many cases, characters are regarded as belonging to the players who created them, and others are not allowed to make drastic changes to them without the creator's consent. In addition to standard characters, games may also incorporate non-player characters (NPCs). Some NPCs have recurring roles, while others appear only briefly to aid in the writing of a scene.

STYLE: Forum RPs are frequently written in the third person perspective due to the fact that multiple players must share each scene, each with his or her character as the focus of attention. Common online game terms such as OOC (Out of character) are used to differentiate in-character from personal posting. The opening message or post of each scene typically lays down the scenario and describes a scene, or continues from a previously started scene. Threads then become an ongoing story in which players periodically advance the plot by reading the latest reply and then responding with what their character does and how the environment changes in response. These replies are often open-ended so that other players can continue.