Plz teach me the basics of Roleplaying!!

LostDevil

The Shipping Lord
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
  2. 1-3 posts per day
Writing Levels
  1. Elementary
  2. Intermediate
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
fantasy,Anime,Romance
Hi, I'm new here and I'm looking from someone to teach me how to roleplay if someone could help me out that would be great thanks!!
 
Hi! Are you entirely new, to the point you have no idea what you want to do at all? If so, welcome to roleplaying!

The first thing you should figure out is what you want to do when you RP. Do you want to write about kicking butts? Kissing? Solving mysteries? Something else?
 
Yes, I am entirely new to the point where I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm not entirely sure on what I want to roleplay about. But if I do find something how would I start?
 
Hmm... What I do when I suddenly have something I want to play is I start the process of figuring out more details of what I want. Maybe I want a spooky RP about a hemophobic vampire and her med student roomie who find a corpse in the vampire's bed, but then the corpse speaks! I don't know where to go from there, but that's ok, because that gives my partner and I more room to plan something together.

So, then I take this slightly-more-developed idea, and I start looking for a partner. The best way to do that on Iwaku is to go to the Partner Connections forum and post what you'd like. Here is a guide I wrote on that subject that may help a little, and if it doesn't, it links to other resources that address the same topic.

From there, I keep it bumped with relevant information ("I'm still looking!" or "I added a new idea!"—bumps that don't provide informative content are considered spam on Iwaku) until I find a partner and we get talking.

Alternatively, you can make a thread in the one on one forum itself that has the starting post, and give it the thread label "First Response", which means that the RP will be between you and whoever first responds to the thread.

Experimentation is key to figuring out what you like, because there is no One True Way to play: except that you need to remember that RP is about playing. Have fun with it, first and foremost! If you aren't having fun, talk to your partner and see what can be done, or if the RP needs to end. If the RP dies, there is no shame in it, but by talking it over with your partner first, you may find that you've acquired someone willing to try a different story with you. =D

If you want to try group RP, I can't help you out as much, but give a browse to the Group Brainstorming & RP Search and Group RP Signups forums and see what bites you. =D
 
  • Useful
Reactions: neptune
You may also like to check partner searches (or Interest checks if group is more your thing!) and see if any idea pique your interest. If it does, you can always try to contact the person to see if they would like to role-play with you after explaining your lack of experience, and see if it goes! If you got no luck, you can also take inspiration from the ideas that you lake and make new ones for your own search.

Most of all, explore, experiment and have fun! :D
 
Hi there, it all depends on the type of style you may like or the typenof writing you are drawn too.

If you would like, I will help as best as I can. I've got about 14+ years of RP experience and I have helped people before learn.

Types include, but are not limited to; romance, story driven, combat, story combat, plot building character building etc.

These are simple examples which may help you a bit to understand how wide scale rp is.
 
After 20+ years of RPing, the most important advice, and my own personal rule of thumb for roleplay is to remember that it is NOT synonymous with writing a book. When you write by yourself, you control all the pieces - plot, structure, characters etc. You are responsible for the twists, the hooks, the climax - and in essence, planning ahead is generally crucial to a good, contained and cohesive plot.

In roleplaying the ONLY thing you fully and individually control is your own character. The rest is entirely codependent with the person or people you're writing with. This means you need to be willing not only to be flexible in your own ideas, but flexible in your focus. A self centered roleplayer whose sole purpose is gain... Won't make it far. You need to be willing to allow other players characters to shine, allow your own character to sometimes fail or get hurt... You aren't writing a story. You're building one from the ground up, cooperatively. Emphasis on that last word.

A roleplayer who is only ever concerned about being the center of attention? Who never gets hurt or messy or makes mistakes? Who has no flaws, goals or nothing to lose? Boring.

Center yourself on the idea of working with others and working with a GM to make a consistent, well rounded adventure and you can't go wrong.

Second MOST importantly piece of advice I can give... Is to remember that roleplaying is 30/70 writing/reading. Unless you're in a 1x1 (a story written by you and only one other player), you will ALWAYS read more than you will write. An unwillingness to do this or tendency to skim other people's posts is a really bad roleplayer habit. The meat or roleplay is in working with each other - react to what other people write, notice details, engage your characters senses, body language etc. And in return GIVE things to notice/react to in your own post. Never assume you've read the important bits by skimming. You might miss something crucial... And even if you don't, someone took time to write it. Take time to read it.

Remember these two rules and no matter what style, adeptivity level or genre you jump into, you'll be alright :) Enjoy!!
 
I'm just going to stick my nose in and throw in some input. Now I'm not sure just how little you do know. I'm sure there's a much better guide for newbie rpers somewhere on the site, but out of both laziness and pretentiousness I'm going to write up a quick little thing.

AHEM

First things first: In order to join a role-play, whether it be one on one or a group arena, you'll likely be asked to submit a character sheet, or a CS. Basically, a CS is a rough outline or summary of your character. It is typically up to the GM how much information they expect to get about your character, and they always include a sample lay-out of the CS on the sign-ups thread (if they don't, report them for being a skrub). You will notice that the forum has been split between Group RP In Character and Group RP Sign-ups, as well their matching one x one counterparts. Please do NOT post your prospective character sheet on the In Character thread! We keep the two threads separate for better organization, easy flow of the rp, etc etc. And even after you've posted your CS, don't take that as green light to post in the IC thread! You've got to wait for that good ol' GM approval first.

Once your CS has been submitted, the GM will let you know if you're approved or not. Please be sure to read the rules of each rp you sign up with, as it may differ from GM to GM. And don't be afraid to ask questions! Try not to take it personally if your character is not initially accepted. Some rps may only take a certain number of rpers, and therefore they choose whichever characters will mesh best with the plot. If your CS doesn't fit the mold for whatever reason, feel free to stash your little dude or dudette in your pocket for a future rp. There's always the next one :^)

You may have noticed another section on here called
Group Brainstorming & RP Search (or its counterpart Partner Connections). This is a good place to look for prospective rps in the work, or just throw out overall ideas that you have. Most people put their ideas here first to see if anyone's interested; if a few take the bait, things quickly move to a Group Sign-ups thread annnnd....the rest is history.

That's all I can think of atm. If you have any other questions, feel free to poke any mod you see lurking around the site, or just throw up another question here! If any players on the sites are giving you a hard time, feel free to call a security so they can beat them with a giant stick.

Other than that, welcome, and most importantly of all, HAVE FUN :)))
 
  • Useful
Reactions: LostDevil