i guys! Chaos here. Just wanna throw some tips out. I'll update this when the need strikes, and when i get inspiration. Fow now, here is some basic RP Tips!
1. Play it cool - Don't do something in the roleplay you wouldn't do in real life. Morals still apply. Unless your character is a sociopathic murderer, they will still have morals, even if they are twisted.
2. Be realistic. - Do not godmod, be OP(overpowered), and, be realistic in situations. For example, If a group of people are talking quietly, by themselves, do not just randomly walk into the group and murder them all for no apparent reason. Also, take in real life actual chances. For example, if a group of roleplayers are in the woods, and your a single person, unless you have epic tracking, are all knowing, and you happen to have knowledge on where they would be(as in your character, not you) chances are, you WON'T find them.
3. Describe, describe, describe. - It looks like "unwrite" but describe actually means to attempt to explain something in detail. For example: "She has the green eyes of a sea of grass". Flowery, annoying, and slightly overdone, but descriptive. Better, perhaps, would be "Emerald green eyes, sunken deeply, with thin and high eyebrows over them, her eyes appraised me" It seems flowery, but, it does far more than just describe one thing. It puts detail in more than just her eyes. Whats NOT acceptable is "Her eyes are green. She has pointed ears. her hair is red and long." its junky, blocky, and has no effort. It does not flow, adn further more, it lacks ANY color. Whee, its green. What shade? Does it have variation? Can i detail it further?
4. If its annoying, don't do it. - This is a simple, easy to follow, easy to understand, and easy to get wrong, rule/tip. People hate to be annoyed. Its a fact of life. Thigns like OPing tend to annoy people. But, you also have to take nito consideration other things that might annoy people; liek being chauvinistic, to girls. Or for being a grammer nazi. The last one, especially. Heres why. Even though your "improving the game" by improving their grammer, your not. It takes away from the flow of the Rp. if you can understand what they are saying, even if it is not proper english, then it works. This is especially true for characters. They can speak in accents, and misspelling words, and rephrasing sentances can go a long ways for that. Being a grammer nazi tends to annoy people. A lot.
5. Talk vs. speak. - Talking. We do it. A lot. In fact, more than 50% of our RP will be talking. 25% will likely be describing, and anywhere from 40% to 10%(depending on how long your RP is) is actions. We yak, and yak, and yak, and sometimes, we lose track of what we are even talking about. This is good, it signyfies REAL conversation. However, at points, there are "speaking" times. When your conversation has a point. It can be a monologue, or a dialogue. It truly depends. Put basically, its like this; Talking is two girls talking, while speaking is a commander of an army giving a speech. There will be times for both, but let talking take command most of the time.
6. Hooray! I'm moving! - Movement. its often overlooked in an RP. You just don't type out all those lil nuances your char does, like how many blinks per minute, or how many times a girl may shift the hair out of her eyes, or what a guy does while no one is looking(you know what i'm talking about). But sometimes, this is important. very, very important. it can give hints to how your character is feeling. A slight raise in the brows is surpirse, or questioning. Brushing hair out of the eyes is annoyance, or nervousness. Little habits your character picks up along the way. Tapping a foot, scratching an arm, stretching, running, panting. Verbs are very important in your RP. I know a lot of you have had at least ONE fight with a big boss monster thing. Do you just attack it? What are you doing? Shifting your feet, dancing, graceful, inelegant, or precise, your characters movement, in many ways, is dynamic, and always changing. Just because theres a big monster in front of you doesn't mean you get to ignore little details either. Heres another little thing you need to think about. What is your characters face doing while he fights, hmm? Does it show fear, anxiety? Most likely. Sadness, or triumph? Maybe. Your characters face is doing something, just like the rest of his body.
7. Life in general - Your characters life, if its anything like my characters, is turbulant, and always, always busy. Its not like you spend a lot of time with your character just relaxing, right? Think again. Your character needs down time, some R&R. Time to break out the video game, pull out violins, or rock out in a band, instead of fighting monsters, getting beat up, or shooting space cowboys. Your character, no matter what you may think, does need time at the spa. They DO need some time to flirt, to just and . It adds realism.
I will shift all you tips down by one with one of the most important tip.
1. Have fun. If your not having fun or with a fun group, then why do you feel like you should do something. Having fun is the main goal of a roleplay.
Sometimes having fun means just relax with the others and talk, either in roleplay or just from person to person.
Now, for some minors ones.
9. Interact. If you don't interact with others, then why do you roleplay? Interaction, even minor ones like leaving a trail of fur or an open window, can lead the others into the direction were you want the roleplay to go. Whether it's to find you character or just follow up an idea, plant your 'seed' and wait. If it takes more then five minutes, plant another but don't go bugging. If you just state your idea once, people may have forgotten it. Some people may have seen your first 'seed' and are working toward it. And if you see someone is getting ignored, try and start something in that area.
10. Recycle. If you're playing with a group over and over, try bringing your character back more often. This will help the other members to notice you more. Always being the evil guy isn't good either and EPIC introduction aren't always the best way to start. If given a chance to start off with the others, take it, at least for one of your characters.
11. Respect the others. Respect the others, both in idea and decisions. If it's their idea to have their characters killed then let them. But only the owner can decide if his characters die or not. They may have a second plot behind the near death of their boss or they plan on introducing another character while killing their old ones.
12. Don't be closed minded. don't be 'My idea, my rules.' Sure you can specify something that should be or shouldn't be but be open to the other's ideas. Don't try to control everything that goes on in your roleplay idea.
13. Be patient. Sometimes it can take a while for you to be able to do something. If your not directly involve, this time would be good to get some food or a bathroom break. And be patient of those who are away, they have a life also. If you need that person for your roleplay, then you're out of ideas.
14. Be creative. Sure you can make a regular human with no super power or social relations but were is the fun in that? Don't use pre-made stories and characters if you can make your own. It's more satisfying when your idea succeed then having someone else's idea. Don't be afraid to make characters like dragons, angels, demons etc...
15. Don't rush. Rushing into the action isn't the best way to start. Wait your turn if doing an intro. And don't be afraid of 'Walls of Text.', they often provide information you can use later on in the roleplay.
16. Read - When it comes to chat Roleplays, or "CRP"s, reading is the most important thing you can do. There are times in a roleplay when even the tiniest detail can save your characters life, or prevent something from happening. Don't be afraid to go back and look at previous posts, even if they are walls of text, and reading it makes you go crosseyed. It's often worth the re-reading, and it can help you put puzzles together, like, just exactly what kind of person this character your talking to? It helps you to figure out how to react in a situation, and in complicated RP's, tiny, often overlooked, details are used intentionally by the GM, to allude to something ocming up, to foreshadow. Just because this is only a "CRP" doesn't mean you can't use literary devices.
Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:17 am