Hello everybody! My name is Mystery, and here I'm going to show you what it's like to be in the RP section of the forums.
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The RP, or Roleplay section, is a place where literally anything can happen. Use your imagination to create the most awesome characters, with special abilities, maybe something animal-like? Who knows? Once you get to know these parts, you really don't want to get out. The people are amazing (Characters and real people!) and every time there's something unpredictable.
Know that, before you are going to go in these parts, you need some decent writing skills, and control of the English language. People are always here to help if you need it, but it's very nifty to know what you are saying.
Second thing to mention is that it will take some time to learn the basics. But know that these experiences can be of use with other forum roleplay sections!
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Alright, let's commence with some words you need to know.
Powergaming is actually the bane of roleplaying. No, seriously. Powergaming is putting yourself at number one and act before others can. It's the most common thing that happens when new people start roleplaying. An example of the situation:
Vicky sneaks up on Bert and stabs him, killing him instantly.
It isn't fun to have your character killed before you can even start to act the scene. A much better line would be:
Vicky sneaks up on Bert and prepares to kill him/and tries to kill him.
See? The way you act can almost change the whole story. Powergaming is an easy mistake to make, and solved very easily. Overuse can ruin the entire story, though.
Metagaming is knowing names, powers, and personality of characters your character couldn't know, because he/she hasn't met the person before. Sometimes made by a little more experienced players, and even made by some experts. Greeting a character by his/her name while not having met before or not knowing the name is an easy made mistake. Just try to remember it.
A lore is the prescription of rules, places and times. Sometimes it gives a character creation, what you need to fill in to join the join the RP, like details about your character. The lore is the big set of rules everyone must play by. Don't try to break the lore, because it can be a little uncomfortable for other players. Like, if you have a lore which is set in the middle ages, you can't have a gun. That would be breaking the lore.
Retroactive continuity, or shortened retcon, is changing events that happened in the past. If someone died, but was resurrected with an unknown reason, that person would be retconning. Changing events must be discussed with the other participants of the RP.
A Mary Sue is a perfect character. These are made by a lot of participants. Create your character as realistic possible, unless some changes can be made following the lore. Check if your character is a Mary sue by following this small test.
Alright. After that boring piece of theory, let's start with an example roleplay.
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First, we fill out the character creation file. It will usually look like something like this:
First, we fill out the character creation file. It will usually look like something like this:
Name
Age
Gender
Personality
Description
*History*
(Abilities)
(Mood)
Name, Age and Gender are self-explanatory.
Personality is the way your character behaves in certain situations. Is he/she easily scared, fiery, sly, or competitive? Try explaining it as much as possible.
Description is how your character looks like. Most people use images as explanation. But you can also just type how your character looks like. Images, however, are advised.
Your character's history is the most important part of your entire profile. How did he/she land on the place of the RP? Does he/she have a dark past? Experiences? Life changing stuff? That kind of thing.
Abilities are often used here on the forums. It's what special, non-human skills your character has. Example: shape shifting, extraordinary senses, ...
Mood is how your character feels right now. Fear, anger, sorrow, mystified?
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After that, we have four chat styles.
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Out of Character is you. The real you, not your character. It is used for conversations between participants, in a non-character way.
Out of Character is you. The real you, not your character. It is used for conversations between participants, in a non-character way.
In-character is talking as your character. Using "these things" you can talk as him/her.
Describing is that you describe the situation. Dense walks into a dark forest is a describing way.
Whispering is using brackets (to say something softly) like only one person can hear it.
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I also want to mention some important people in the world of RPing.
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GM's, or Game Moderators, Game Masters are the people who lead the roleplay. They give advice, OOC information and are usually experienced in the art of roleplaying. If you have trouble with your character or other characters, be sure to ask the GM what to do.
PC's or Player Characters are the other participants of the roleplay.
NPC's or Non-playable Characters are, as the name says, non-playable, but are part of the environment. People create some NPC's for help, guide or as an example. The limitations of NPC's are (almost) endless. But, as long as they fit in the lore.
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That's it! If you need more help, sent me a private message, ask other roleplayers or post a reply in the thread!
