Oct 22, 2017 14:14:30 GMT
Malachai Hemet, Angelina Saunders, and 1 more like this
Post by NINA IS A TRAITOR on Oct 22, 2017 14:14:30 GMT
A Beginner's Guide to Role-Playing
Welcome to our website! We are glad that you have joined, and that you are looking to either learn, or perfect, the way you role-play. We are excited to have a new addition to our team! This guide will provide you with the basic knowledge required to participate on our website. We hope you enjoy your stay here!
While this guide will provide you with the basic knowledge required, it is in no way exhaustive, nor should you limit yourself to the confines within it.Role-Playing has two distinctive elements, 'role' and 'play'.
Understanding your 'Role'
In role-playing, you write as a character, meaning that your writing embodies everything related to that character's actions, thoughts, etc. In order to write as a character, you first need to understand him/her. Whether it is a canonical character (part of a book, movie, or other form of story or conception) or an original character (that you create yourself) you have to have a basic understanding of him/her.This is in no way an exhaustive list but it provides you with the understanding that you need to understand your character before you attempt writing as them.
- What is their name, age, gender?
- What is their history?
- What motivates them?
- What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- What are they afraid of?
- What is their core value system?
- Whom do they admire? Whom do they like? Whom do they love? Whom do they detest? (The list goes on and on)
- How do they express themselves?
- How do they speak, and why?
- What colour would their speech be?
- Do they have any odd habits?
As you can tell, there are many aspects regarding a character that you need to understand before you can contemplating writing as them.
To exemplify the understanding required of a character, we have the following example:
Batman
- The character originates from DC Comics, so his age is unimportant as long as is within the limits of reason and logic.
- 30 Year-Old Bruce Wayne, whose parents died during a mugging when he was young.
- This motivated him to embody his most gruelling fears (bats) and conquer them as he became the most feared vigilante/hero in Gotham.
- A master tactician, detective, and martial artist...
- ... he often feels a divide between the dark cowl and his public persona as the playboy millionaire of Gotham.
- Helped by Detective Gordon, Robin, Alfred, and many others...
- ... he faces against a variety of crooks and villains, some of which more despicable than the mind can conjure.
- His arch-nemesis is The Joker, a twisted and evil being which he cannot bring himself to kill due to...
- ... his internal code of justice.
We know where the character originates from (canonical character from DC), what his presumed age and gender is (30, male), what his name is (Bruce Wayne/Batman), what his history is (parents were killed, became a vigilante), where he conducts business (Gotham, a vital part of his history and identity), whom he fights alongside and whom he fights against, as well as his skills and the divide between his two clashing identities (one fake, one real).
Understanding the 'Play'
Now that you have taken to understanding your character, you must understand the writing criteria that are applied to every single post.- All writing must be conducted in the third person. (He opened the door.)
- It is recommended that a few aspects are present in your writing. This includes setting, character description, and action/speech which moves the thread forward, so that another may reply and develop the story that the two (or more) of you are creating. (He was X, looked like Y, and did Z.)
- Speech must be within inverted commas (' ') or quotation marks (" "). A colour, and the bold modificator, may be adopted for your character's speech, but please be consistent (no rainbows). When representing the speech of an NPC, please keep colour out of the speech.
- The writing must be from the perspective of your character (or from a neutral narrator's perspective, if you so choose). (He trusted her, knowing she would always care for him and tell him the truth) vs (He trusted her, knowing she would always care for him and tell him the truth- unaware of what hid beneath the pretty and kind exterior she showed the world.)
- Your writing must abide by all of the punctuation and grammar rules found within the English language. (Sentence structure/syntax, you're vs your, comma/period/dash/semicolon's usage.)
- You must respect your character and represent them holistically, without any nonsensical alterations that do not serve any purpose. (Having Batman be afraid of fighting would be nonsensical given his character, meaning that there would have to be a pretty legitimate plot reason for it.)
- You are only able to write as your character!
- You cannot control any other played characters (written by other members), nor are you able to decide their fate (even when you act against them. Write attempts, not conclusions.)
- If your character is not aware of something that you, as the writer are aware of, that means that your character is still not aware of that thing until that information comes to his mind.
- Nothing within the narrative itself (exterior of the character) can be used to substantiate a character's knowledge or understanding.
- You cannot go beyond the limitations of your character, as a general rule (God-modding). This includes all of the aforementioned points, as well as your character doing something that they would not otherwise be able to do. (Batman using laser-vision to kill someone.
- You cannot change or re-interpret what someone else has previously written. You must proceed with the thread. If issues arise, discuss them with the other person prior to contacting a moderator for them to be solved.
- There are exceptions. You may write as an Non-Playable Character, as long as this doesn't interfere with how another writer has embodied them. You may also control the environment or setting, as long as this isn't in your favour, or has been previously discussed with the other writer.
- As the last few points have made clear, you must be aware that writing is a joint enterprise. You are not the only deciding factor of the story, as there is someone (or multiple people) that are also part of the story and have a say in it. Communication is vital in having a fun, engaging, and interesting thread that every single person will enjoy. During every single step of the way, ask for clarification if something is unclear, or seek to discuss potential avenues forward.
- It is recommended that you do not write one-liners, but that you instead choose to write a paragraph, or even multiple paragraphs, given the other members something to work with, and giving you the freedom to explore the story and the avenues from your character's perspective as you see fit.
- Remember, "Great stories are built upon collaboration."
Understanding Terminology
There are terms that you must know so that you can effectively communicate with other members and be certain that you are regarding the same thing in your conversations.- Thread - Where role-playing takes place.
- Starter- The first post in a thread.
- Reply - Following posts after the starter.
- Order - The order in which the members will reply, including the member who posted the starter.
- Posting - Replying to threads.
- Storyline (SL) - What your thread's story will be.
- Alternate Universe (AU) - Universe different from the original/canonical one.
- Cross-over - When a character moves onto another character's universe to interact with them. (Marvel + DC)
- Muse - Character
- Mun - Writer
Out of the entirety of the 3-part series, this is the only one required for you to initiate your activity on the website! The other two are optional, for those looking to expand their skills.
If you are looking to expand your knowledge and expertise beyond this guide, you can investigate the 'Intermediate' and 'Expert' Guides on the website.