Role-Playing Guide

Introduction: I’m not sure how long it’s been, but as far as I can tell, role-playing has taken over the fun part of the internet nowadays. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? Judging by who you are, I would say that it’s a good thing. It’s a fun way to pass time, get to know people better, fantasize about what your characters are doing, and much more. However, I’m sure there are those of you who have never role-played or don’t know much about it. This guide show help answer any questions that you have about the fun world of role-playing.

1. Character Acting – A very obvious technique that should come naturally to everyone, but isn’t as easy as it appears sometimes. First of all, despite the character being made from you, that character isn’t really you. Therefore, don’t have your character do something that he wouldn’t do, but you would. So, in other words, if you have an evil character, but you yourself are a good person, you shouldn’t have your evil character doing good deeds just because you would do them yourself. It’s possible, but it’s not really what your character would do. Always remember to think like your character; kind of like walking in another’s shoes. In my history of role-playing, I have sometimes felt saddened and worried when my partner’s characters totally bashed and screamed at my own characters, since I felt that they were directed at me personally. However, they were not; my partner was just simply doing a great job role-playing her characters, and it was not directed to me at all. Therefore, always remember to avoid conflicts from In-Character (IC) and Out Of Character (OOC). Listed below are some examples of good character acting and bad character acting:

Bad Character Acting:
The evil fox walked down the street, smiling to himself after having just donated some money to the local food bank. A puppy dog came up to him, so he gently petted the creature, and moved on his way. Maybe he should go and hug a baby or something.

Good Character Acting:
The evil fox smirked deviously to himself and stalked through the quiet town, trying to find out where to make his next heist. Along the way, he kicked a puppy dog out of his way, stole some candy from a baby, and chucked a baseball into a nearby window.

2. God-Modeling – This is a rule that should be common to everyone, but I have still seen people do it. Please don’t ever “god-model” with your characters. To “god-model” means to basically act like God, and do absolutely anything; be able to dodge everything, be able to hit everyone without them countering, being invincible and almighty, and so on. Always remember that your character is not God, and is therefore not perfect. Yes, I realize that you love your character and want them to be the best, but also remember that there are others out there as well. Yeah, everyone has unique backgrounds where they could gain “extraordinary powers” or “the power of Zeus” or who knows what? However, they still cannot be almighty and perfect; that’s no fun to anyone else. Please remember this when you role-play, since it puts everyone on a level ground. Listed below is an example of god-modeling, which you should not do, and an example of how to really do something:

God-Modeling:
The cat laughed while all the bullets bounced off his chest. He quickly ripped the nearby tree out of the ground and used it to smash everyone who was charging at him into the sky. Feeling confident, he went and conquered the nearby town, just for kicks.

Non God-Modeling:
The cat bit his lower lip as he desperately tried to dodge all the bullets coming towards him; it was bad enough that he had 20 opponents charging at him. This really wasn’t his day; there wasn’t going to be any town-conquering for him at this rate.

3. Description – To be honest, this is one that I, myself, am not really good at. I have also never really been good at describing things. However, being able to describe an event, action or sequence is really essential to proper role-playing, because it allows you to get a vision in your head. Always ask yourself this when you type something: “Can I see this happening in my head?” If the answer is yes, then it’s probably good. If you honestly can’t see it happening, or you don’t really know how it’d work, then you need to write a bit more. This also goes for quotations and speeches, too. Don’t just have a character say two words or something and that’s all, unless, of course, they have a good reason for it, like they’re sick or hurt or something. Listed below are some examples of what is good and what isn’t so good:

Player 1:
The cat ran towards the fence and used his hind legs to leap over it and land on the other side. Gasping a bit from the effort, he smiled and patted himself down.

“Wow, now that’s what I call a good workout!” he laughed, feeling good about himself.

Player 2:
The fox saw the fence and quickly got on the other side.

“Okay, I’m here,” he said.

Player 1 had the better message here, since he managed to describe what had happened, and it’s easy to visualize it. Plus, his character’s speech was clever, lengthy, and gave the reader an image of how the cat would be looking right now after doing his feat; note that he added a bit more after what the character said, since describing the character while he’s talking is really essential to really good description.

Player 2 might need a little work with his message, since it’s not really that great. Okay, there was a fox, and he saw a fence, and he suddenly got to the other side. But, exactly how did he do it? Saying “quickly” doesn’t tell us anything. Did he run there? Did he somehow use his tails to fly there? Did he dig there? Plus, when he talked, it was kind of boring and plain, and we can’t really see his emotions.

4. Character Abilities – This can either be very easy or very hard for someone to understand. Basically, if your character can’t run with super speed, then they can’t run with super speed! Stick with what your character knows; you can’t just give them something that they don’t know. Of course, they can always somehow learn a new ability or gain it through a magic spell or item or something, but not before then. Listed below are some examples of what should take place with a character’s abilities:

Incorrect Ability Control:
Shockingly, the cat lifted up the heavy boulder, totally surpassing his own body weight. After doing this, the cat happily zoomed off, still somehow carrying the boulder.

Correct Ability Control:
Struggle as he may, the cat couldn’t lift up the heavy boulder. He moaned in pain as his arms ached, but it was obvious that he just wasn’t strong enough.

5. Scene Play – Not a very difficult thing to understand. Basically, your character has to know where he is. He can’t just jump from one area to another, and obviously, he can’t be in two places at once. Well, if your character has a clone, a twin, or something like that, then it would make sense. However, this probably won’t be the case in many situations. Listed below are some examples of proper scene play:

Incorrect Scene Play:
The cat walked onto the shore of the island, then quickly ran and appeared in Joliant in the next moment. With a deep breath, he quickly moved onto Mira-Mira instead.

Correct Scene Play:
The cat swam into the sea, taking deep breaths, since he was kind of out of shape. Soon, he hoped to reach the shores of the island in the middle of the raging rapids.

6. Interaction – Everyone goes by different rules when role-playing. Some people just want to do fighting and violence, some just like romance and naughtiness, some just want to do boring talking and that’s all, some want to do actual lifelike circumstances, and so on. On this forum, as long as it stays mostly clean, you are allowed to role-play anything that comes to mind, as long as it doesn’t totally mess everything up with what’s going on. Sometimes, a person’s ambition and desires could badly affect the role-play and either annoy or anger the other person. So, always make sure that it’s okay what you’re doing with someone else. Listed below are examples of what is and isn’t allowed on here:

Not Allowed:
Excessive cussing (hell, damn and crap are all alright, but that’s it), blood and gore (don’t let violence lead to this), sex and perverse stuff (there’s a fine line between sex and naughtiness), taking unnecessary or mean shots at someone (remember to role-play, not let your inner most self take over), and anything else that might be in a rated R movie.

Allowed:
Romance (naughty things or romantic things), fighting (battling or beating someone up), comedy (doing silly or funny things), social bonding (basic talking and role-playing), and most anything else that you think is “clean” or “fun”.

7. Typing Skills – Now, I know that not everyone is perfect. In fact, only God is perfect, so there’s no comparison. However, it’s really annoying and hard to understand what people say if they don’t have good grammar, spelling and punctuation when they type. I know that it’s harder for some than it is for others, but please make an effort to type with a passion. Don’t “internet talk”, don’t shorten words, don’t make little symbols to try and be cute, and try to make it clear when someone is talking or doing an action. Think of this as an opportunity to get better at your skills, rather than a negative point of view. If you have any concerns, feel free to talk about them to someone. Listed below are examples of what bad typing is and what you shouldn’t do:

Internet Talk:
“LOL, totally! ROFL, seriously!”

Shortened Words:
“O yea, tht is so sxy and I luv it!” she gushed.

Symbols:
“Oh man, that’s so stupid!” xD “Aw, they’re so cute!” <3 “What shall we do now?” :3

All-Around Poor Typing:
She walk over to the boy and hug him close licking him and sigh happily looking cute and wanting to kiss him too. Hey, can we go now?” she ask, tilt her head.

8. Patience – This is something that everyone probably has to deal with, depending on where you role-play. If you’ve role-played in a chat room, then this is probably not that big a deal. However, when dealing with a forum or posting messages on a forum, sometimes a person will take a long time to return. After all, we do have our own lives to live sometimes, which is sad, but true. Therefore, please be patient if someone doesn’t respond back right away; it might take some time, but if they’re loyal and they try, then they’ll be back. Listed below are examples of how to approach this situation:

Wrong Way:
“Oh, that cootie-faced lint-licker! How dare she not come back and reply to my message? I want my character to hook up with hers! She is so getting told off for this nonsense! Where is that bum?”

Right Way:
“Well, it’s been a few days now, and I’m a bit worried; I hope she’s alright. I miss our role-playing, but I believe in her, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and play with someone else for now.”

9. Kindness And Respect – This should be a given, but there will always be mean people with wicked intentions in their hearts who will try and hurt you, so always try to remember to be kind and show respect. Yes, the old saying of “treat others the way you want to be treated” is overused, but it’s so very true. As human beings, I’m sure we’re all smart enough to know how to respect each other. While on here, please treat everyone with kindness and respect and treat everyone as your equal. Yes, someone might have a higher rank than you or might be older than you, but that means nothing. The only thing that should matter is that you’re a human being, along with everyone else in the world. Even an admin should know enough on how to treat others. Listed below are examples of how to respect someone and how to not respect someone:

Wrong Way:
“You are a rude and selfish person and I don’t want you here! If you don’t start acting mature and grown-up, then you’re going to be out of here and banned!”

Right Way:
“Since we’re all smart people here, please let us talk about why you’re feeling so angry today. Just remember that we’re your friends and we’re here to help, alright?”

10. Just Enjoy Yourself – Obviously, you joined this place to have fun, correct? Well, if you’re just here to cause trouble or harass someone, then maybe this just isn’t the place for you. Don’t get me wrong; everyone deserves to be accepted, no matter what. However, the main purpose that this place was made was that so people who didn’t want to have harsh rules rain down on them, or have rude people always stalking them. So, when you come here, just enjoy yourself and do whatever it takes to make this a place where you can go to do your thing. Listed below are examples of how a true person on this site should feel, and how someone else who doesn’t belong here might feel:

Rotten Person:
“You’re all a bunch of pansies! Man, you’re all such stupid losers; don’t you have anything better to do with your pitiful lives? Grow up and get mustaches, you stupid dorks who live with your parents!”

Fun Person:
“I’m really glad I decided to come here! Wow, what a bunch of wonderful people to get to know; this is one of my favorite places to go now! I wish I could stay on here forever, you know? Hey, if I’m lucky, maybe I will!”

Conclusion: Thank you for reading through all this. Hopefully, you are now set to become a very avid and dangerously-talented role-player, if you weren’t already. Sometimes, helping people understand is needed with humor, which I am good at supplying to people. I really hope that to those of you who are reading this that you take life by the horns and just make sure that you have fun every single day that you breathe in the air of the world. Now, let us all role-play in harmony.