The Sub-Par Guide To Role Playing

[Sagwort 832]

The Sup-Par Guide to Role Playing

By: Sagwort

 

 

Forward

Before I begin I would like to point out that I do not consider myself the best role player, nor an above average one.  This guide is simply a product of me browsing the inter-webs using my computer processor.  I came across some blogs about writing, namely novels.  I have often compared role playing to writing a novel and thought: “Huh, I wonder what this is  all about.”  So an hour later I have fifteen different tabs open and I haven’t blinked in at least thirty minutes and I’ve been holding in a **** that could feed half of central Africa.  Reading further you will find what I have managed to scavenge from the thing they call “The Writing Community” and how I think it applies to role playing.

 

You probably won't have the patience to read through have of it, so pick and choose what you want to learn more about.

 

 

Character Creation

Perhaps the most amusing part of role playing is preparing for it.  Creating your fresh new dark elf that you’re going to cyber with over Skype.  What terrible disease will they be inflicted with?  What color is one eye going to be and the other not?  How heavenly attractive should they be?  These are the questions that go through some of our heads as we start meandering through DeviantArt for concept pictures of our hunky hot elf sex god.

 

I’ll say this now, this is perhaps the most crucial part of role playing.  The character you decide to create will set a tone for the rest of your role playing experience.  Read this section with the utmost of sincerity.

 

 

Character Profile

This ‘profile’ that we often create with of our characters (mostly thanks to the application system) is the pitfall for all good characters.  Now I’m not saying character profiles are the anti-christ, they are good for outlining concepts for a character.  Your character at ‘first glance’, if you will.  However, what makes a truly spectacular character is one that you get to know...intimately.

 Take your character out on a steamy date, meet them in a coffee shop, arrange an

accommodation to grab a pint with them on a Friday night.  There is a HUGE difference between ‘knowing’ your character and ‘understanding’ your character.

 

'Knowing' a character is what everyone else sees, what they look like, how old they are, their backstory, their favorite food, etc...   ‘Knowing’ a character is the aspect we reach when someone gives you a 100 question long profile for your character.  I say, THROW IT OUT, THROW IT OUT NOW.  No one cares about your character’s favorite color, no one cares about what they have in their left pocket.  What people care about is how your character is going to interact with theirs.  This is when ‘Understanding’ your character comes into play.

 

To the tune of ‘Understanding’ and with the aid of a writer’s blog, I have come to the conclusion that there are Seven Pillars to a strong character: Fear, Secret, Flaw, Quirk, Desire, Strength, and Inner Conflict.  Now I am sure you have immediately misinterpreted what many of those words mean so allow me to elaborate.

 

 

The Fear

"Fear is multi-dimensional." – Art Markman

Fear is one of the driving forces for anybody.  You fear losing your job so you work hard, you fear getting a divorce so you love your spouse, you fear the man with a chainsaw so you run.  Fear is a powerful thing.

 

It should be noted that when I say ‘fear’ I do not mean the superficial thing you fill out on one of those tacky little character profile things.  I’m talking about the primordial fear, the stuff that made cavemen live in caves, the stuff that makes us have night lights, and check under the bed.  This is not simply ‘arachnophobia’.  Even fears as specific as that have primal roots.  A good technique is to ask yourself ‘Why’ until you get to the ‘Root Fear’.

 

Using arachnophobia as an example:  Why do you fear spiders?  Because they might bite me.  Why are you afraid they might bite you?  Because they might kill me.  Why are you afraid of them killing you?  Because I don’t want to die.

 

There you go, your character doesn’t fear spiders (even though they might).  They fear ‘death’.  This Root Fear does not have to be obvious, you're character does not have to wear it on their forehead for the world to see.  Though it should influence how your character makes decisions.  Also, why does your character have this fear?  Did their parents never love each other so your character avoids commitment?  Maybe they were beaten as a child so are always trying to please those around them to avoid disappointment and punishment.

 

Here is a short list of some Root Fears:

 

Death

Mutilation/Pain

Loss of Autonomy/Control

Isolation

Embarrassment

Rejection

Failure

Criticism

Insignificance/Lack of Value

Success

Poverty/Scarcity

Hurting Others

The Unknown

Competition

Controversy

Ill Health/Old Age

Loss of Status

Loss of Identity (fracturing of the self-concept)

 

These fears branch of into more specific fears, but at the root your character is deathly afraid of ONE OF THESE.  And I say one of these because it is tempting to grab a handful and slap them onto your character.  The issue with that is that many of these fears are still connected, even at the roots.  Someone might fear old age due to death or they might fear old age due to a loss of status and rejection.  One fear can sum up your entire character, choose wisely.

 

Now the most important question: How does your character react to fear?  It's much more complex than just fight or flight.  They could freeze up, they could break down, they could reason.  Any number of possibilities exist as to how they act when they must face their fear.  Here is another list (I love lists) of how your character might react to fear:

 

Denial

Regression

Acting Out

Disassociation

Compartmentalization

Projection

Reaction Formation

Repression

Displacement

Intellectualization

Rationalization

Undoing

Sublimation

Compensation

Assertiveness

 

Also, what does your character think of their fear?  Do they see it as weakness and hate themselves for it?  Do they see it as a simple fact of life?  Or perhaps they hide it for whatever reason.

 

One final point:  Apply, apply, apply.  Knowing your character's deepest, darkest fear will do you no good if you don't apply it to how your character acts in day to day role playing.  Now don’t over do it and have your character running through the streets screaming bloody murder.  But have your character perhaps avoid situations which might lead to their fears, and if they end up encountering their fear, make them suffer for it.

 

The Secret

“Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”

– Mark Twain

This is a Pillar I feared you would misinterpret.  When I say secret I do not necessarily mean: “She was raped as a child and doesn’t want anyone to know.”  Granted, this could very well be your character's secret.  It could also be: “I collect toe nail clippings in a jar beneath my bed.”  The reason for a secret is not to make your character edgy and ‘misunderstood’ it is to add drama.  Give other people a reason to get to know your character.  Give them something to find out, a mystery that will make roleplaying with you intriguing.

 

A secret does not have to be physical either, it could be entirely abstract and emotional.  Perhaps your hardened dwarf warrior doesn’t want anyone to know that he is really a sappy guy.  Maybe your human nobel doesn’t want people to know that he drinks with peasants on the weekends.  Maybe...maybe they are keeping a secret for someone else.  Secrets do not have to be ‘dark’ and ‘mysterious’, granted, come up with something more interesting than: “My elf shits his pants.”

 

Now there are two aspects to a secret we need to understand: why they are keeping the secret, and how they came about obtaining that secret.  First, there needs to be a reason they are keeping their secret a secret.  Maybe your character is keeping a trade-secret and doesn’t tell anyone to keep their business afloat.  Perhaps telling anyone would bring great shame to their family and result in a loss of status.  Maybe its nothing more than a result of embarrassment.  What if its a combination of all three!  How interesting!  Depending on the secret your character might have varying degrees of intensity on how far they will go to keep their secret secretive.  The “I eat my boogers” secret may not be so dire as the Krabby Patty Formula.

 

Finally, how did your character come about acquiring their secret?  Usually this is a result of backstory (which is not as important as you might think, we’ll cover that later) or in-game events, even better.  Whatever it is, there needs to be a reason as to why it is.  Your character does not enjoy eye-ball licking sex just because, there needs to be a reason for it.

 

Remember, apply it to role play!  Perhaps when someone mentions the word ‘melons’ your character starts to sweat a little.  Maybe they blink, rub their hands together, or start trying to change the subject.  Or your character might be a total badass and not react to anything!  (We’ll cover body language later)

 

Here are some links to get you thinking:

http://www.springhole.net/writing_roleplaying_randomators/character-secret.htm

http://thoughtcatalog.com/rachel-hodin/2013/09/38-of-the-most-shocking-wtf-secrets-from-38-strangers-on-the-internet/

 

The Flaw

“Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.” – W. Somerset Maugham

A flaw is the sort of mistakes your character makes, the kind of thing that makes other people cringe or even hate your character.  It is also through flaws that we most identify with our characters.  We all like to imagine a perfect character with not a single defining flaw.  Phooey to it!  Now be warned, many of us are also guilty of creating characters with so many flaws that they might as well be a vegetable.  Flaws do not make or break your character, but they do define them.  It is through flaws that your character makes mistakes, thus creating conflict.  And as we all know, conflict is what makes role playing fun, but that is for later.

 

Again, when I say flaw I do not mean: “They have a pimple on their forehead” or “They like clams a little too much.”  When I say flaw I mean flaw in a broad sense.  Is your character envious, are they greedy, lustful (hint: seven deadly sins make excellent flaws (hinthint: so do the four humors)).  Perhaps they’re all talk and no walk, self-deprecating, self-destroying, stubborn, etc...etc…  An interesting idea to play with is a Polar Flaw.  A Polar Flaw is a good trait or virtue that has been used to excess.  For instance:

 

“I’m only trying to help!”

 

“I’m only being honest!”

 

 

Maybe they are kind to the point of smothering.  You know, the whole hug a rabbit until it suffocates and dies situation.

 

Now comes the hard part, putting a flaw into effect.  Allow your character to make mistakes.  Don’t get this confused with ‘don’t god-mod’.  Your character could very well be a god, but allow their flaws to trip them up.  Make them choose the wrong path, trip over their own ignorance, become engulfed by their own lust for power.  This is not only interesting for other people to witness and rp with, but also to rp.  Sometimes its even difficult or uncomfortable to rp because you just a manly man.

 

“The bigger the flaw, the sweeter the victory.” – Kristen Lamb

 

How aware is your character of their flaw?  Well, it’s easy to say they are, but what if they’re not?  There are various reasons as to why one might not be aware of their own shortcomings.  Here’s a list from one of those hipster writing blogs:

 

Anchoring – focusing on only one of a number of pertinent pieces of information

Bias Blind Spot – not believing they are biased

Choice-Supportive Bias – believing past choices were better than they were

Confirmation Bias – supporting preconceptions by focusing on information that fits

Empathy Gap – not realizing how much something will affect someone

Moral Credential Effect – feeling justified in a few wrongs because of a good track record

Normalcy Bias – the denial of unusual events, causing a lack of preparation or reaction

Omission Bias – seeing harmful acts as worse than equally harmful omissions

Restraint Bias – underestimating temptation

Semmelweis Reflex – rejecting new evidence because it doesn’t “fit” with what is “known”

 

Final note, as with the secrets and fear: why does your character have this flaw?  What caused them to be this way?  Maybe it’s just in their racial credentials (greedy dwarf, ignorant elf) but those are usually cliche and uninteresting.  Maybe your dwarf is an attention seeker because they were ignored as a child because their parents were always in the mines.  Whatever!  Get creative.  We’ll go more in-depth in the backstory section.

 

The Quirk

“A quirk should never exist JUST to make the character memorable or look pretty.” – MJ Bush

This is a fun little section that most people glaze over.  Quirks may seem pointless at first glance, or even over indulgent in the whole character profiling thing.  Quirks are a crucial part to characterization.  A quirk, by definition, is a peculiarity.  Usually something unusual or deviant in one’s behavior or appearance (No, your elf with trimmed ears and a height of 5ft does not count, granted, it might have at one point but it is so common now that it is hardly unusual).

 

A quirk should do at least one of the following:

 

Symbolize another aspect

Ground the backstory in the present

Reinforce one side of a personality contradiction to make it more believable

Represent a whole contradiction

Symbolize half of an inner conflict before that half is revealed

Push the plot with unintended consequences, including reactions from other characters

Push the plot with the continuance of a habit in a stressful situation (quite realistic)

 

When I say symbolize, I mean just what you think: symbolize something. (That sentence was redundant…)  Perhaps your character fears missing out on life, their quirk might be that they have difficulty blinking. (A symbol of how they don’t want to miss a second of life, you know, the sort of stuff you learned in english class).  

 

A backstory quirk may be a limp or an eyepatch due to fighting a massive white bellied whale named Moby ****.  

 

Contradicting quirks are just that, they are meant to contradict something in your character.  Maybe you have a massive buff orc who has tiny hands, or a high pitched voice.  You’ll understand the inner conflict when we get to that section.

 

The Desire

“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” – Kurt Vonnegut

This is perhaps the most important aspect of a character.  Your character is motivated by fear and desire.  That’s it.  There is literally no other way to motivate someone.  Most often they work together.  It is fear and desire which makes Frodo stand up and continue scaling Mt. Doom.  It is fear and desire that makes you wake up in the morning...if you really think about it.  Maybe you fear the back of your parents hand, or you desire perfect attendance at school (nerd…).  Desire is the positive motivator.   It is the force which makes us work towards something instead of running away.

 

Your character’s desire needs to be a powerful life-altering desire.  The very thing that makes your character tick.  Even if your character is a simple minded farmer they have desires.  They desire to bring in a good harvest, to feed their family, to have success.  To be the best damn farmer this side of the King’s Road.  Even dark, depressed, suicidal characters have desire.  Maybe they desire to be loved, to be noticed, to have an intimate relationship, or even death.

 

According to writer blogs there are two types of desire:

 

Surface Desire: What your character wants physically such as marry a particular woman, become king of a particular nation, etc...etc…  A sort of desire of the moment.

Root Desire: This is the desire which caused the surface desire to occur.  Much like the Root Fear, the Root Desire is the primordial ‘unf’ that defines your character.  Simple, broad words are often root desires. (Love, power, etc…)

 

There is also something known as Conflicting Desire.  This is a desire which gets in the way of another.  For instance, your character really wants to marry the princess of elves.  However, your character also wants to become king of Oren for the obvious power there.  The twist being that the princess of elves hates Oren and won’t marry unless you promise not to become king.  There is inner conflict here (read inner conflict section) thus we have tension and suspense and what we call interesting role play.  Your character could get into arguments with his elf princess girlfriend, or perhaps try to live a double life of corrupt Oren politics and sensitive elven love.

 

That being said, your character can have more than one desire.  It is often advised so that if your character accomplishes one desire they can go for the next.  Notice, however, that if you choose a good Root Desire they will never be able to reach their goal.  Their lust for power is always driving them, their need for love is never quenched.

 

Also, as I have already stated, there needs to be a reason as to why your character has this desire.  Is it vengeance?  Or something else?

 

The Strength

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzeneger

A strength is the counter characterization for a character’s flaw.  Granted, they shouldn’t cancel each other out.  “Lol, my character is really greedy, but he is super charitable.”  Cardinal virtues, much like deadly sins, make excellent strengths.  Personally, I think your character should have at least two strengths: an emotional and physical strength.  Perhaps they are kind and caring, and an excellent lute player.

 

This is when the debate of god-modding comes into play.  I trust everyone here enough that they won’t pick a strength that is going to make their character overwhelmingly powerful.  Cheers!

 

Despite that, one can have more than one strength.  They can be nobel, charitable, kind, sympathetic, yada yada yada. (Perhaps, though, they have a dark and terrible secret…).

 

Here is ANOTHER list of possible emotional strengths:

 

Charity

Chastity

Kindness

Diligence

Humility

Patience

Temperance

Ambition

Determination

Honesty

Honor

Love

Loyalty

Passion

Boldness

Patience

Resourcefulness

Responsibility

Active-citizenship

Selflessness

Valor

Humanity

Justice

Transcendence

Wisdom

Creativity

Curiosity

Open-mindedness

Love of learning

Fairness

Leadership

Self-control

Forgiveness/mercy

Prudence

Gratitude

Appreciation of beauty/excellence

Hope

Humor and playfulness

Spirituality/sense of purpose and coherence

Fortitude

Self-respect

A strength could also double as a moral principle or belief.  Perhaps your character believes in honor, as a result they might be very courageous and noble.  Maybe they’re a scholar, so could be open-minded and wise.

 

The Inner Conflict

“There are always two forces warring against each other within us.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

This is what makes your character interesting.  This is what creates situations to role play in (and not just walk around until you find role play).  Essentially, the best way to produce inner conflict is to take two of the above characterization pillars and put them against each other, or even themselves (Such as the Oren King, elven Princess example).

 

Does your character fear dying alone?  However, their flaw is extreme shyness?  That is inner strife and turmoil.  Perhaps your character desires power, but fears pain and war.  For obvious reasons, power is difficult to obtain without one of those things.

 

Inner conflict is not a characteristic so much as a tool for producing instances in which to role play in.  Too often do I see people (me included) walking around aimlessly until they come across a large group of role players.  They are ‘looking’ for RP.  Screw that.  They’re RP sucks anyways.  Make your own role play.  The best way to do this is by using inner conflict to spark something. 

 

 

Backstory

Perhaps the most unnecessary part of character creation.  If there was one thing you wanted to skip, skip this section.  The ONLY thing that backstory should really be used for is for explaining why one of the above characterization pillars are the way they are.  Everything else in a backstory is just fluff.  Was your dog killed by Undead?  Sure, now how does that define who your character is?  Does your character desire power because they lived in squalor and poverty?

 

 

Physical Description

UGGGG.  Another pointless part of character creation.  The only ‘important’ physical description is the character’s quark, and that is not even always physical.  No one cares if your character has rock hard abs (unless you’re cybering) or if they’re left eye is green and their right is blue (not a viable quark).  If you do insist on explaining how tall your character is, do it in rp.  For instance:

 

[!] Nick bites his lower lip in pleasure as Cassandra runs her hands down the various contours and crevices of his sculpted abdominals. (Wow, I should go into erotic novella)

 

[!] Leya looks her in the eyes, one eye seeming to hide in a deep sea of blue while the other glares with vibrant green hues.

 

[!] Dave looks down upon Phil, his shadow casting long dim figures across the dwarf.

 

 

 

You do not need to put, in your description, “Dave is 6’2’’ and has brown hair.”  *****, DO YOU THINK I’M BLIND. I SEE HE HAS BROWN HAIR BECAUSE THE HAIR ON YOUR ******* SKIN IS BROWN!!@!!
 

Your skin does a great deal of physical description you don’t have to do.  In fact, take advantage of the physical entities on your skin.  Describe how your character scratches his stubble, or runs long fingers through dirty blonde hair.

Remember, show, don’t tell.

 

 

Character Consistency

The only way the above characteristics will do any good is if you stay consistent with them.  Don’t change your character’s fear just because it suits the situation.  Don’t make them care (or not care) about things they wouldn’t otherwise care about.  This is why ‘understanding’ your character is so important.  Get to know them on a personal level.  

 

Don’t let role play dictate your character.  Your character should be dictating role play.  They should be making the decisions, the mistakes, the choices, that will progress role play.  And all of these things should be done in accordance to how YOUR CHARACTER  would react, not yourself.  So often we react to things in role play because that is how we personally want to react.  Well, think of you and your character as separate entities.  Even if you don’t agree with what your character’s judgements, go on with it.  Step outside your comfort zone.

One point I would like to address, I know that many people on this server are role playing because it is a subconscious release from their real life (Even if they don’t realize it).  I will not go into details as to why people might consider role play a release from their otherwise unappealing lives but don’t let that hold you back.  People who view role play as just a second life are role playing not as what their character might do but how they want to be perceived by others.  I beg you to avoid this, sure you might be deep with emotions and personal strife, but those are your emotions.  You are playing with pixels, they mean nothing.  Getting attached to your characters for such hysterical reasons can only lead to poor role playing.

 

 

Character Development

This basically contradicts everything I just said but bare with me.  You might have heard that good books and movies have character development.  For example: Lord of the Rings (Frodo and Sam), Harry Potter, Star Wars.  All of these classics have characters which are almost entirely different people from where they started.  Luke Skywalker was an enthusiastic young padawan and turned into a vengeful, angry cyborg.  This didn’t come to pass over night.  It occurred over time, things happened to his character which changed him (some for the better, others for the worse).  He was taken from his family on that desert planet...I don’t even know the name, his mother was killed by those ISIS space men.  His anger slowly consumed him and he even killed the woman he loved, and betrayed his master.

Now we grow quite attached to our character’s personas when we start, but things change, and change is good.  Allow your character to not only react to events but also change with them.  By this, I don’t simply mean: “Wife is killed by Undead, he hates Undead now.”  No, it should be deep and impassioned.  His wife dies due to the Undead and he has lost faith in the Creator.  He goes into alcoholism, whatever.  Even subtle things like how he might look upon children with great affection because they never had children.  The seven Pillars can change.  In fact, this is the best way to go about producing character development.  Change one of the Pillars as a result of some in-game event and see how it ripples across everything else.

 

 

Scene Synthesis

When I refer to a ‘scene’ I’m talking about a small blip of role play your character participates in.  For instance: your character walks into a tavern and starts talking to the bar tender.  Now how do we make these scenes more interesting.  I’m sure you all like casual conversations about the weather but I tend to nod off as soon as someone comes to me with role play that redundant.

 

A scene needs to have two elements: goal and conflict.  A goal can be as simple as ordering a pint from the bartender or complex as slaying an Undead Mage.  Conflict is what makes the scene come to life.  Conflict can be defined as stakes.  What will happen if my character does not achieve this goal?  In return, it will make the goal something your character wishes to strive for.  What could happen that your character never gets his pint?  What would happen if he does not kill the mage?

Now you’re probably thinking: “**** off Sagwort, I’m not going to make every single instance of role play an action drama film.”  Well, chances are, you are doing it without realizing.  You walk into Petrus and overhear a group of men talking about a rebellion.  Interested, you join.  The goal: learn about the rebellion.  The stakes: never hear about the rebellion.  It can be as simple as that.  But a scene should never be: “Hey...weather is nice...bye.”  Unless, of course, your character has a reason for doing so.  Maybe they’re woefully awkward and just looking to make friends.  Maybe they’re bored.  Moral of the story, don’t just do things to do things.  Give your character a reason for doing it.  That will make role play seem more meaningful, and chances are, it’ll last longer too.

 

 

Emotes

If you read no other section, I BEG you to read this section.  

 

Emotes are a thing some people use too much of, and others use too little.  A good rule of thumb is: “Will the emote affect the other person in any way?”  If not, don’t emote it.  Don’t add pointless fluff just to seem like a ‘good role player’.  A good role player gets their point across in an efficient way.  Similarly, I have seen people use too little emotes such as:

 

[!]Paul pours Jim some beer and hands it to him.

 

 

 

No.  That is boring, monotone, not interesting to read.  When you do emote, and it is being emoted for a reason make it interesting to read.  However, don’t go over the top.  Don’t give me five emotes of how Paul pours Jim a pint.  I got places to be.

 

[!]Paul carefully selects a half clean mug from the cabinet and slowly walks over to the keg where he happily pours a pint of splendid ale.

 

 

 

That is disgusting, a good length, but disgusting.  You may think, “Oh that's good RP, did you see all those details?”.  Well, it is ‘good’ RP but not fantastic.  First, cut out the adverbs.  We don’t need them, instead use strong active verbs.  Instead of ‘slowly walks’ use a verb like ‘dawdles’ which means the same thing as ‘slowly walks’.  Cutting out unnecessary adverbs we now have:

 

[!] Paul culls a half clean mug from the cabinet and dawdles over to the keg where he taps a pint of splendid ale.

 

 

 

Much more interesting to read.  In my opinion, a better emote would be something along the lines of:

 

 

[!] Paul designates a hazy mug, scuffling over to the keg where he siphons out a cup of ale.

 

 

Now I know sometimes adverbs just need to be used to get a point across.  All I ask is that you think before you say “Quickly Runs” and instead say “Sprints” or “Races”.

 

Also note that not every noun needs to have an adjective tied to it.  Not every sword needs to be sharp, not every cloak needs to be ragged.  Granted, if the defining feature of the cloak is that it is ragged, point it out.  Otherwise adjectives can make a sentence seem overly choppy.

 

[!] Tim brings his round mug with the pale ale to his dry lips.

 

 

I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster when I read that, up and down, up and down.  Think to yourself, what is unnecessary?  Can we agree that most ale is pale?  And that most mugs are round?  Unless there is a defining characteristic to the noun that requires an adjective, such as being a cube, don’t use it.  Also, if someone has already described an object with emotes, you don’t need to redescribe it.  If the bartender already noted that the mug of ale was a cube, you don’t need to restate that in your emote.

 

 On the flip side, we might want to know that Tim’s lips are dry because it shows that he has probably not had anything to drink for a while.

 

[!] The bartender slides an oddly cube shaped mug over to Tim.

[!] Tim brings the mug of ale to his dry lips.

 

 

It could use some work, but overall, it’s a smoother read.  Less ‘hilly’.

 

Finally, show, don’t tell.  If your character is sad don't emote:

 

[!] Loshanda looks sad.

 

 

Describe it, how does she look when she’s sad?

 

[!] Letting out a groan, Loshanda buries her face into her hands.

 

 

We can insinuate that Loshanda is sad because of the way she acts.  Not just because you said ‘my homegirl looks sad.’  Also note that I switched up the sentence structure.  I didn’t just say:

 

[!] Loshanda buries her face into her hands as she lets out a groan.

 

 

Doing emotes like this over and over again becomes choppy, and monotonous.

 

[!] Bill washes his hair and cleans his ears.

 

[!] Bill goes into the kitchen and cooks himself some sausage.

 

 

Mix it up ya’ll.

 

[!] Cleaning his hair and ears, Bill cooks himself some sausage after walking into the kitchen.

 

 

Not only did we condense two emotes into one, we also created a slightly smoother and more interesting read.

 

Side note: PLEASE don’t emote what your character is feeling or thinking.  Don’t do emotes like:

 

[!] John thinks to himself that everyone is really bad at rping.

 

[!] Lisa concentrates as she connects with the void, imagining a water ball.

 

[!] Laquifa remembers her dead son.

 

NO, NO, NO.  All of these things can be fixed by the show, don’t tell.  Other characters cannot read minds, so don’t encourage them to by doing this.  SHOW how Lisa concentrates, maybe her eyebrow creases or her palms begin to sweat.  SHOW how Laquifa remembers her dead son.  Perhaps her eyes go to the sky, a hand over her bosom.

 

 

Dialogue

Phew...emotes were a big thing.  Dialogue...not so much.  Some major points to hit are that your character should have a voice.  They should not talk passively, imagine how your character would talk and apply it to typing.  Now I realize this is quite difficult, but emotes can help with that.

 

[!] With a voice like melting butter, the handsome bard sings a song, “La la la”

 

 

Also realize that your High Elf is not going to talk the same as your dwarf.  Accents are a major part of Lord of the Craft races, utilize them.  I see some humans do excellent jobs at this with their medieval slang and what not.  Even more specific, a farmer will not talk the same as nobles.

 

Even within accents, all characters should have a voice.  This is difficult to develop.  Even though Gandalf and Legolas don’t have any noticeable difference in accent they talk VERY differently.  Gandalf is very casual, upfront and straightforward.  Legolas is more poetic, sophisticated sounding.  The rules about emotes do not apply to dialogue.  Dialogue belongs to your character and should suit however your character should sound.

Would they use words like ‘adore’ or ‘really like’.  Would they say ‘Yes sir’ or ‘Of course’.  This is something that comes with practice and the more you role play with your character the more you come to find their voice.  This is one of the main things I think separates good role players from excellent role players.  Their ability to adopt a voice specific to their character, and change at a moments notice.

 

 

Body Language

This sort of goes under Emotes but meh.  It’s a major thing.  Body language is the best way to convey emotion and personality through emotes.  Is your character effeminate and reserved?  Perhaps they cross their legs when they sit.  Is your character rebellious and dark?  Maybe they lean against walls with their head down.  Maybe your character is feeling a little nervous so they start fidgeting, rubbing their arm.

 

Blah!  I am no psychologist, here is a reference sheet for body language I find very useful.

http://writerswrite.co.za/body-language-reference-sheet

 

 

Finding Role Play

Oop, here we go.  The biggest problem with role players, not matter how good is that “There is no rp”.  Well you should just go kill yourself.  You know why you can’t find rp?  Because your looking for it!

 

To role play you have to create your own.  Remember what I said about conflict and goals?  Of course you don’t…

 

Any-hoo, there is no such thing as ‘finding’ role play.  There is only creating role play.  A sub-par role player looks.  A great role player creates.  Now I’m not talking about getting on the event team and having a dragon attack the most populated city.  It can even be subtle.

 

Engage people.  Talk to other people, emote and see if any one reacts.  Give your character a goal and conflict and see to it that they carry out those goals.

 

One thing I noticed recently are the fools who walk up to you, shift click, and run away.  Well you know what, **** THEM.  If they want to know if your character is attractive enough to cyber with, have them work for it.  Ask them why they are bowing, engage with them.

That is the key word, engage.  Don’t be passive and let roleplay just go by.  Create it.

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

[Overland 339]

10/10

How can you possibly call this sub par :P

[DrakeHaze. 2486]

PVP default.

[Heero 4078]

Very informative and I have to say, I'm really impressed Ambros. Pinning so new players can easily locate and read this over.

[susitsu 870]

...Damn. That's impressive, yo.

[Giga 357]

Wow... You've put me in my place. I just read this, and cringed at my history of Roleplaying.

Great job man!

[firespirit44 1279]

Wonderful guide! I think we should show some appreciation towards it. 

 

 

2000 minas for the excellent guide, from the days bygones. 

[Lark 2226]

Time to apply this to muh roleplays

[Wendigo 786]

I have no idea why you call this guide "sub-par"...incredible guide. I especially like the end noting on the subject of people when they go by just simply bow and as you're typing something out run away before you can finish. Probably one of the things that irks me the most.

[EndlessWord 10]

Very Well written and I think exactly how every character created on the server should be.

 

Great Work!! :)

[The Fact Core 511]

Amazing.

 

[Trips 344]

I tried to find a .gif fitting enough for my amazement while reading this, but this is the only one I could find.

 

[Quavinir_Twiceborn 1042]

Seriously, this guide is amazing. "Sub-par" are the farthest words I can think of for it.

[Adran 10]

This is the most amazing thing. Damn, but this guide embodies everything I lack when roleplaying. Someone please put this guy on like all the staff teams.

+"like a billion"

 

P. S. Nobody likes false modesty :)