xmrsmoothx 317 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Advanced Roleplay Techniques The standard for roleplay in LoC is rather average - but are you looking for more? To immerse yourself in the most intimate details of your character, and to make your roleplay more realistic and powerful? If so, read on; I am aim to detail various styles and situations to make one's roleplay the highest quality. Table of Contents 1. Basic detachment. 2. Character use. 3. Realism and detail. 4. Emoting effectively. 5. Styles and techniques. 1. Basic Detachment The most important rule to follow for roleplay is that of detachment from one's character. Put simply: "You are not your character; You and your character are very different." This manifests in many ways. Users often lose themselves in roleplay and begin to use their character as a tool for their desires. However, this should be the furthest from the truth. To facilitate proper roleplay, especially during combat and intimacy, our characters must be completely different personalities from ourselves. Here are some techniques to separate oneself from one's character. -'He' or 'She', not 'I.' This is one of the most glaringly self-centric ways to be attached to one's character; the tendency to refer to, and essentially be the motivator for, one's character. As addressed in the first paragraph, this should not be the case. Your character is not 'I'. Your character is 'He' or 'She', or sometimes 'It'. You will never go on a raid, or level up your stats, or kill somebody; your character will. -Differentiate. Your character should not be similar to you - many users make the mistake of creating a character that is an idealized version of themselves. This is setting oneself up for blatant attachment and other dangerous things. The creation of a differentiated character will be addressed in part two. -Embrace every situation. This may be difficult, especially when it does not benefit one's character. However, it is essential to developing the detachment from one's character - one must understand that every situation in roleplay is valid, and in no way should be remedied simply because one does not enjoy the direction their character is going in. -Immaterial roleplay. Roleplay should not be based on items and stats. The best roleplay, and the most detached, makes use of things that are not represented in Minecraft - for example, an emerald necklace, as opposed to a set of iron armor. -Non-gaming. Roleplay is not a game; it should not be 'played'. Minecraft is only the platform for roleplay, so whenever text, emotes, and speech can be used over functions, systems, and plugins, they should be. Remember, make Asulon into a story, not a game. An example of attachment: Annabelle_the_Bandit kicks down the thick, wooden door with her powerful legs, entering the room, prepared to ransack the residents of all of their diamonds and iron ingots. She will not stop until each is dead, regardless of her situation - powergaming and metagaming are valid methods. Of course, every victim must be clicked to death, and Annabelle will pick up all their diamond loot. An example of detachment: Annabelle_the_Bandit takes several seconds to break open the door, blinking in surprise as the group inside is heavily armed, and rushes forward to apprehend her. She is taken in shackles and chains after a short fight, but is ultimately captured. The user who controls Annabelle finds this to be intriguing roleplay. Conclusion Detachment from one's character facilitates roleplay without hindrance. It is one of the most essential pillars of seamless roleplay - when one is not invested in their character, anything can happen, with little animosity or even grievance from the users. 2. Character use. The understanding of character is one of the most important things to be aware of when entering roleplay. One's character is like a single pier, in a boardwalk of hundreds. When one of the piles fails, the entire structure may be in jeopardy. This makes it vital to create a character that is not only unique, but fits very well into its environment. Here are several ways to create and utilize a successful character design. -Be unique. Do not export a character from a currently existing work of media. This is completely unacceptable - roleplay is about creativity, and the use of a character already done is quite the opposite. Every new character made should have traits, or a combination thereof, that no other character that has come before can claim. This keeps a degree of diversity in roleplay that few others can match. -Be focused. Each character should have something which defines them - whether it be their profession, their appearance, their history, their skills, or otherwise. A clear set of your character's values will give them a direction and a base. In the same vein, however, avoid having this focus as a 'gimmick'; simple allow it to come to the surface more clearly than other traits. -Be flawed. One of the worst problems in roleplay is the construction of a perfect character - a 'Mary Sue', colloquially. This is a character that has reasonable to godlike skill at any and every task - even those that he or she has not encountered yet. This is improper - flaws are an integral part of a character's design, and make for just as much roleplay as skills. -Be realistic. The time period, culture and races of Asulon have very important cues. A character should not deviate too far beyond these, lest they become uncanny and unrealistic characters that would not reasonably exist in the world. A simple example is a halfling warlord or an orc hug-salesman. -Be consistent. Your character will not change like a Transformer - they will not simply jump from being a carpenter into being a soldier within the day. It will be a process, like with any decision, and it would be unreasonable to have your character's will as malleable as a ball of puddy. An example of bad character use: Annabelle_the_Craftsperson finishes carving an elaborate wooden handle for her titanium Ka-Bar combat knife, which she blacksmithed herself, and stands up to sprint at elven speed to the door. She throws it open and draws her colossal war-axe, fit for an orc, and crushes the zombie just outside. She then steps back inside to practice necromancy. An example of good character use: Annabelle_the_Craftsperson slides the finished hilt onto the bronze dagger smithed for her by a dwarven friend. She hears a moaning at the door, and rushes to slide a wooden bar in front of it, stumbling in her clumsiness. She shouts to the guards in the city, informing them about a zombie in the streets. Conclusion Character creation is crucial to roleplay - especially when section 1 is applied, and one becomes detached from their character, allowing them to flow how they will. A character must last you for the entirety of its life and well, perhaps more; do well while you forge this character. Further character creation resources can be found here, in a thread by the prestigious Aerinyes. http://www.lordofthecraft.net/forum/index.php?/topic/34131-flesh-out-your-character/ 3. Realism and detail. Here we are - the true meat of this guide. Detail is a very important tool in roleplay; sometimes, if detail is left out, misinterpreted, or incorrectly rendered, it can be a complete blunder for roleplay. Realism, likewise, has an adverse effect on roleplay. These are several things to remember about realism and detail. -Understand physics. At least, to a minimal extent. One must be able to understand the effects that bodies of different mass and velocity have on each other. An incorrect interpretation may lead to unfortunate circumstances, such as a dwarf felling an orc, a human surviving a hundred-metre fall, and other such situations. It would take many hours to describe every way physics is abused in roleplay - however, a general rule would be to understand the dimensions of the situation at hand before deciding how your character responds, or even can respond, to it - which leads to the next point. -Understand the situation. It is essential to keep tabs on the detail of your character's situation. If it's a battle, acquire the size, strength, and a short history of the character that yours is engaged in battle with. If it's a craft, understand the metrics, density, weight, and shape of each component and tool. Every detail is a variable that will affect the outcome that your character exerts, so they all must be accounted for. Which, of course, is a segue to the next point. -Be detailed. Your character is a collection of near-infinite details. These details all have an effect on roleplay, from a minute change to a gigantic modifier. It is preferable to include every detail as is practical - even those that may not exert any measurable change. It adds to rich and beautiful roleplay, as well as creating a varied situation, depending on the set of details. -Make sense. A personal mantra which I take on roleplay; it must have a full explanation before it is acceptable. Trace your ideas back to their roots - if it is an invention, determine where the inspiration, funding, material, and study came from, and how the invention works. If it is a skill, determine where the training, experience, and history came from, and the advantages and limitations of the skill. Everything must make sense. -Don't play, roleplay. This is an especially important point - Minecraft mechanics should have no effect on your roleplay. A 'stack' is not a valid unit, and stat levels have little to no bearing on how roleplay will play out. Every situation has more variables than any mechanics or plugins could hope to describe, so make sure to reflect this in your roleplay. An example of mediocre realism and detail: Annabelle_the_Rogue jumps over the orc and cuts off his leg. An example of exceptional realism and detail: Annabelle_the_Rogue plants a foot, and nimbly slips around the orc's hulking form, throwing up chunks of dirt under her feet. She rolls into the ground, crushing grass under her, and returns to her feet in a widened stance. As the orc slowly turns, she reaches down and tears her falchion from its sheath, twirling the steel weapon in her hand. She raises it over her head, swinging with force down at her adversary's leg. The blade sinks several centimeters into the orc's leg but becomes stuck. Annabelle_the_Rogue looks up in fear as his club crashes down on her head. Conclusion Roleplay is about detail and realism as much as creativity - ideas, actions, events and characters must stay within the bounds of physics, and be sensible. Just as well, though, it must be detailed richly and comprehensively. 4. Emoting effectively. The emote is your Swiss-army knife to convey all of the things that your character does. It describes actions that your character executes, actions that are done to them, and often their appearance. This is a list of important things to consider while emoting. -Be third-person. This means that emotes should not make use of 'you', 'I', 'they', or 'us'. This, of course, coincides with the first point of section one. All emotes should be as if from the perspective of an omniscient observer. -Name with discretion. While performing an emote that includes another character, one must include the name of that character. A common problem is the practice of including one's character's views in an emote. For example, "X attacks the dirty rotten thief". However, emotes should be done from, again, an omniscient perspective - this means "X attacks Annabelle_the_Thief" is the result. -Be open-ended. Emotes should include every possibility. A movement does not have a clearly defined end result - for example, "X stabs Annabelle_the_Thief" is incorrect, and even powergaming. "X tries to stab Annabelle_the_Thief" is much better, but keeps the thought process of the stabbing in mind. Finally, "X thrusts his blade toward Annabelle_the_Thief" is much less implicative, and gives a huge amount of room for open-ended results. -Be detailed. This applies especially during combat. Your emotes must reflect every aspect of the action your character is performing. It is not a simple stab; the sword thrust must be directed toward an area, with a certain amount of force, and the setup to this emote would be even more detail, denoting the stance, state and other variables of the character executing. -Emote actions. Thought is not a proper use of emotes. If another character is able to understand your character's thoughts, it should be conveyed through /tell. -Encompass everything. Emotes are not optional. Roleplay requires emotes just as much, and even more than it requires character speech. Everything your character does can be emoted - stepping into a room, blacksmithing a weapon, cooking food. Food, craft, and scribing roleplay are all under-represented, but should comprise a huge amount of emotes. Of course, battle roleplay is very important as well. This is an example of inferior emoting. Ever_the_Vandal vandalizes the wall. Annabelle_the_Berserker attacks the belligerent suspect with her axe. This is an example of superior emoting. Ever_the_Vandal begins to smear cattle dung over the Keep's walls, flicking it off of his fingers once he finishes. Annabelle_the_Berserker scowls at Ever, rushing forward with her steel battleaxe in both hands. She tightens her fists around the hemp-rope grips, and rushes forward with her pauldron first, then swinging her axe horizontally in a heavy cleave. Conclusion Emoting is exceedingly important to roleplay. Without proper skill in emoting, you will have trouble conveying your character's actions to detail, and discrepancies will inevitably result. As always, of course, detail will always enhance roleplay, and this is still the case for emotes. 5. Styles and techniques. These are several helpful techniques, after applying all of the above augmentations. These tips will be fine-tuning and perfection in nature, and allow you to round out the roleplay in this guide with nicely-connecting ties. -Use proper English. The most glaring form of this flaw is the neglection to capitalize the word 'I', the neglection to place proper punctuation, and the misuse of homophones such as 'they're', 'there' and 'their'. Proper grammar and spelling is extremely important to quality roleplay. -Use poetic speech. Phrases such as "How are you?" and "I'm angry" are bland, repetitive, and unpleasant, especially for the time period that Asulon is supposed to be in. More poetic speech, such as "How fare thee?" and "My rage meets no bounds!" bring a feel to a character that fits the middle ages much more easily. -Use quotation marks. Quotation marks are is use by many users to denote the speech of a character. In addition to their use in emotes, they can be used in standard 'talking' to include emotes without having to switch to the cumbersome yellow-text function. They also provide a barrier between in-character speech and outside influences. -Use /tell for out-of-character communication. Using brackets in public chat is not only cumbersome and cluttering, but also can 'clog' the chat for people who are roleplaying. This can be avoided by using /tell for grievances, confirmations, and misunderstandings between players - if the parties number two or more, /whisper would be preferable. -'Roleplay', not 'RP'. It's simply cleaner and more sophisticated. In addition, use 'in-character' as opposed to 'IC', 'out-of-character' as opposed to 'OOC', and please, never use 'ICly' or 'OOCly' or 'RPly'. Guide Conclusion I do hope that you've been able to read through the entirety of this guide - hopefully you will take some (possibly all!) of these tips to heart, and truly deepen your roleplay. Remember: Detachment, character, realism & detail, and emoting are all essential to perfect one's roleplay. Now get back on the server and do it. 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaCabra (Soda) 1515 Share Posted May 20, 2012 This was a fantastic and easy to understand read. I myself have learned a few more ways of enhancing my RP, so kudos to you for that. Thank you, mrsmooth! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmrsmoothx 317 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 This was a fantastic and easy to understand read. I myself have learned a few more ways of enhancing my RP, so kudos to you for that. Thank you, mrsmooth! Thank you as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawses 58 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Well-written, Smooth. Good job. :3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmrsmoothx 317 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Well-written, Smooth. Good job. :3 If a bibliography were mandatory, you'd be cited in there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowsGoMoo 267 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Owoo!~ Great guide, Annabelle! I'll make sure to keep some of these in mind, as I RP next time!~ This will DEFINITELY help people improve their RP, and or teach them! -Inserts a crabbily drawn thumbs up.- 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy 1599 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Superb, interesting and worthwhile read for all RPers role-players. This should be a mandatory read for all players. I'm going to be taking all of this into account in all my role-play from here-on... I request permission to link this in my signature, so that more people might see it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmrsmoothx 317 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Owoo!~ Great guide, Annabelle! I'll make sure to keep some of these in mind, as I RP next time!~ This will DEFINITELY help people improve their RP, and or teach them! -Inserts a crabbily drawn thumbs up.- Thank you. Superb, interesting and worthwhile read for all RPers. This should be a mandatory read for all players. I'm going to be taking all of this into account in all my role-play from here-on... I request permission to link this in my signature, so that more people might see it. Maybe if ya' read the last tip. Wink. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aetherian 33 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Very well done, sir. An easy to read and extensive guide with quality information, good work. :) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy 1599 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Thank you. Maybe if ya' read the last tip. Wink. Haha, got me there. *role-players. Also, this bit made me very happy -Use poetic speech. Phrases such as "How are you?" and "I'm angry" are bland, repetitive, and unpleasant, especially for the time period that Asulon is supposed to be in. More poetic speech, such as "How fare thee?" and "My rage meets no bounds!" bring a feel to a character that fits the middle ages much more easily. I love seeing a wide vocabulary in role-play... truly does add to it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmrsmoothx 317 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Very well done, sir. An easy to read and extensive guide with quality information, good work. :) Thank you. Haha, got me there. *role-players. Also, this bit made me very happy I love seeing a wide vocabulary in role-play... truly does add to it. It just bothers me that characters have modern speech patterns when the setting is supposed to be fourteenth-century. (Go ahead and put this in your signature if you like.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACanadianCraft (Nate) 682 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Well, i've gotta say. This is a truly shineing example, of a welll writen and extremly thought out guide. Great job. Reading through this was a bit of a waste of my time though, seeing as though I do all of these things already. It was good to see however, that this means my roleplay is advanced. Here I was thinking my roleplay was average at best. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmrsmoothx 317 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Well, i've gotta say. This is a truly shineing example, of a welll writen and extremly thought out guide. Great job. Reading through this was a bit of a waste of my time though, seeing as though I do all of these things already. It was good to see however, that this means my roleplay is advanced. Here I was thinking my roleplay was average at best. Thank you. That's good to hear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
0000 174 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Absolutely amazing guide, Briannabelle!!! Perhaps you could also mention the separation of mechanics and RP. Saying "I have 10 sugar." or "I've got 2 stacks of cobble" makes no sense if you were to say it in real life. They should find a way to say "I have 10 pounds of sugar" or "I've got 2 sacks of cobblestone". But again, thanks for this great guide, it'll be sure to help out many people! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmrsmoothx 317 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Absolutely amazing guide, Briannabelle!!! Perhaps you could also mention the separation of mechanics and RP. Saying "I have 10 sugar." or "I've got 2 stacks of cobble" makes no sense if you were to say it in real life. They should find a way to say "I have 10 pounds of sugar" or "I've got 2 sacks of cobblestone". But again, thanks for this great guide, it'll be sure to help out many people! Mmm. I planned to put that in there... where'd it go? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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