Forum Based RPing basics

Started by Étienne, December 31, 2009, 07:22:58 AM

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Étienne

Quick guide on how to RP via forums/threads and such, this is for anyone who does not know or wishes to seek basics of role playing. There is no right way to RP but there is a good way to RP.

Section 1: Starting

To start a RP thread it must have a decent scenario that is easy to join and easy to follow. The first post should be at least a paragraph on the scenario the kind of RP and the style the RP is taking (Romance, Action, Horror, or all of the above). A solid opener is a solid RP. Also it is keen to reserve the first 2-3 posts to post members of the RP and or changes in the story or current arc. Make sure to be descriptive this is essential for RPing and being able to describe is the greatest and most beautiful tool you can use while RPing. Also state in the first post if the RP is in third person or in first (some people like to do it one or the other but it helps if the entire RP is one way to prevent confusion of others trying to follow the story). Last but not least have links to the character descriptions somewhere in the first few posts so that new comers or some that have been distant for some time can see what kind of characters are involved and make quick references.

Section 2: Making a character

This is also very important and where being descriptive is very imperative. Some dislike the use of outside pictures but for reference it's the best way to describe the character. Making the character your own is very hard at times but extremely rewarding. Listing basics of the character like colors, clothes, weapons, whatever else the character my have should always be stated in the character creation. Here is a basic template I made for a series of characters for a friend's book.


Note: Please spoiler tag pictures.

Note: Depending on the RP you might have to roll dice to have modifiers for certain actions like intellect, agility, mobility, speed, strength.

Another very important rule among RPers is that to make sure the character fits in the universe, as in no godmoding. A good story is able to have characters that can change and become stronger or weaker depending on actions. On the last note about making a character it is the most important thing to be unique and innovative and best of all to have fun with the character.


Section 3: Talking in and out of character


Speaking in a RP can sometimes become complicated if not done in a certain way. Most have actions and speech separated via quotation marks like in" The man walked towards the door and said with a whisper "Oh man what if I don't have chicken" the man glanced back tripped down his stairway into a lake " An example of a way to speak in a third person RP is this. Note that this is a rough draft of a story I was writing for a friends comic so it is not a true RP since I am controlling all the characters.


So as of OC ((out of character)) speaking depending on the author of the thread it tends to be like this " The sword bleeds from the wounds of the dying horse ((lol the horse is bleeding chickens)) " And sometimes it is necessary to express OC to explain some actions or to ask a question.

Section 4: Actions

To my knowledge actions in a RP could be taken in several ways. Please refer to the spoiler above for reference of actions the style that I took. Most actions can be done freely but be warned that some authors will get upset if your character auto hits everything and then stomps on everyone's face without the other characters being able to post a reaction or forcing other characters to make certain action that they would not normally do (sometimes some actions can be forced but to the extremely minor actions like moving a foot away or something even less significant). In some RPs it it required to roll dice or rock paper scissors actions to make contact but that is all in more complicated RPs.

Section 5: Deaths and NPCs


This all depends on the author. But it most cases it is a good thing to have characters die and even make new characters. As for NPC's controlling them is up to the person. Personally though I doubt that a single person is going to take down a Lord of the rings army of orcs with ease but that's just me.


Section 6: Other/Notes


As for right now since I have to go to bed because of work I will have to end this here. But I think I covered most of the RP basics and if I missed anything or just plain wrong tell me and I will change/delete/quit life as needed. If anyone finds this helpful and would like more information I could expand this topic or do some simple RPs.

Until next time,
Kìyevame! Eywa ngahu.


Tirealì'u

... Do we have a forum to RP in? :-P

Coyote

Okay, so let me ask if I'm seeing this right: I've been doing forum-based RP's for years, and in fact have been on a Star Wars RP on spacebattles.com for about 5-6 years now. What we've found generally useful is this:

A role play thread where everything is in character. You write the dialogue, describe the actions, all like a writer making a novel. The usual pov is 3rd-person omniscient.

An OOC thread where you plot and plan together, explain actions that may have been confusing, and give each other backslaps and high-fives for good character development, or help someone who's narrative is struggling.

A tech support thread-- usually not needed unless the game has been going on for a long, long time and there are a lot of things "built/accomplished" or agreed upon in-game that needs to be kept track of. Tables of organization, for example, if you're playing an empire-building game, along with treaties, etc.

Now...

That said, there are two basic types of RP games that sum up game play experience:
1: Character based, or small group character based. Maybe like a first-person shooter type game.
2: Empire building/Politics & Diplomacy based, where you master a nation or large organization and keep track of an ensemble cast of characters and manage resources for large-scale action.

For a Pandora/Avatar based game, a character-based RP would be where we play maybe one main character or at most a small group of two or three characters. Maybe the "main" characters of the movie would be off-limits, so the game master can avoid fights over who gets to be Neytiri, or someone deciding that "Neyteri wouldn't do that, it's out of character, skxawng!" Perhaps the game master would use the "Big Name" characters as NPCs.

Or, for a large-scale Empire game, individuals would play a whole tribe of Na'vi, and flesh out the details of the chiefs, the shamans, the hunters, how many ikrans they have, etc; while others might choose to play as other human colonies/settlements. Naturall you can decide your groups' politics ("we're a human colony, but set up by the future version of Sea Shepherd trying to help the Na'vi") or ("My tribe of Na'vi is called the Tirea Tribe, and we don't trust any humans and attack them on sight"), etc.


So, what were people thinking of for this? It sounds interesting and an excellent way to practice Na'vi in character...

In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Tirealì'u

Personally, I'd love to do some sort of an RP. There's a PBeM going on with some people now, which is nice at the very least (even if I don't care for PBeM). There is, apparently, a forum being set up for RPing too.

Personally, although I like the idea of run-a-tribe and all, I would probably do a character-based one in one of the 15 tribes that partook in the battle at the end of the film, but not the main one featured in the film. Gives much more freedom (although could cut back on the potential for people playing Humans).

Étienne

Quote from: Coyote on December 31, 2009, 02:40:22 PM
Okay, so let me ask if I'm seeing this right: I've been doing forum-based RP's for years, and in fact have been on a Star Wars RP on spacebattles.com for about 5-6 years now. What we've found generally useful is this:

A role play thread where everything is in character. You write the dialogue, describe the actions, all like a writer making a novel. The usual pov is 3rd-person omniscient.

An OOC thread where you plot and plan together, explain actions that may have been confusing, and give each other backslaps and high-fives for good character development, or help someone who's narrative is struggling.

A tech support thread-- usually not needed unless the game has been going on for a long, long time and there are a lot of things "built/accomplished" or agreed upon in-game that needs to be kept track of. Tables of organization, for example, if you're playing an empire-building game, along with treaties, etc.

Now...

That said, there are two basic types of RP games that sum up game play experience:
1: Character based, or small group character based. Maybe like a first-person shooter type game.
2: Empire building/Politics & Diplomacy based, where you master a nation or large organization and keep track of an ensemble cast of characters and manage resources for large-scale action.

For a Pandora/Avatar based game, a character-based RP would be where we play maybe one main character or at most a small group of two or three characters. Maybe the "main" characters of the movie would be off-limits, so the game master can avoid fights over who gets to be Neytiri, or someone deciding that "Neyteri wouldn't do that, it's out of character, skxawng!" Perhaps the game master would use the "Big Name" characters as NPCs.

Or, for a large-scale Empire game, individuals would play a whole tribe of Na'vi, and flesh out the details of the chiefs, the shamans, the hunters, how many ikrans they have, etc; while others might choose to play as other human colonies/settlements. Naturall you can decide your groups' politics ("we're a human colony, but set up by the future version of Sea Shepherd trying to help the Na'vi") or ("My tribe of Na'vi is called the Tirea Tribe, and we don't trust any humans and attack them on sight"), etc.


So, what were people thinking of for this? It sounds interesting and an excellent way to practice Na'vi in character...



This is a really good post!

Payoang

Pardon my general ignorance on RP.. but I maded an Roleplay board. Poke me for feedback/ideas/whatever.

Étienne

Quote from: Seabass on December 31, 2009, 05:55:08 PM
Pardon my general ignorance on RP.. but I maded an Roleplay board. Poke me for feedback/ideas/whatever.

Ah yes irayo very much.  ;D

Eywayä mokri

°°We don't forget anyone, we only get used to their absence.°°

AterFeles

One thing that any player should avoid is over powering their character. I've seen too many good Rps ruined because someone wanted to be able to do everything and be a hero. Remember, teamwork is the key to success. And like Seabass, I am willing to mod any forum.

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Oooh. Just had a crazy idea.

Hmmm, this could be a good way to pratice our Na'Vi... Check the RP forum in twenty min or so (or now, if you just got on, It could be posted already) for my RP idea.

Warnings: I'm a moderate GameMaster, so I can only have like, four or five people maximum in the RP (including myself)



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Tanhìyärina'

I've done some phenomenal play-by-post RPs and some really quite horrible ones.  My main question (and what I've found often separates the groups) is whether there will be a GM, or whether each person will simply post for their characters and something will evolve from the group.  The latter is very difficult to achieve unless you have a really stellar group of RP'ers-- and usually those who know the people they are playing with, their styles, so they can help move the story along.

I should probably go look at the one RP thread that has been started, but I thought I'd ask anyway, as there may be several RPs going on at once.

Irayo!
Fitseng lu oe, tìftia kìfkeyä seri.

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Quote from: Tanhìyärina' on December 31, 2009, 11:58:51 PM
I've done some phenomenal play-by-post RPs and some really quite horrible ones.  My main question (and what I've found often separates the groups) is whether there will be a GM, or whether each person will simply post for their characters and something will evolve from the group.  The latter is very difficult to achieve unless you have a really stellar group of RP'ers-- and usually those who know the people they are playing with, their styles, so they can help move the story along.

I should probably go look at the one RP thread that has been started, but I thought I'd ask anyway, as there may be several RPs going on at once.

Irayo!
I don't know if I can tell you about how the others will run theirs, but I know how I run my RPs.
I play as a in game character, but I'll just give us slight (or not so slight) shoves in the right direction of the plot as need be. But I don't think that will be nessisary. Hopefully anyway.



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Tanhìyärina'

Quote from: Lehrrap Uniltìranyu on January 01, 2010, 12:08:14 AM
I don't know if I can tell you about how the others will run theirs, but I know how I run my RPs.
I play as a in game character, but I'll just give us slight (or not so slight) shoves in the right direction of the plot as need be. But I don't think that will be nessisary. Hopefully anyway.

Excellent.  I guess the deal is, someone has to play the NPCs and the world, and as a player and not a GM, I don't feel comfortable doing that-- it feels too much like powergaming to me.  So as long as there's someone nudging or shoving or willing to take on all the non-PC parts, that will make me a lot more comfortable.  (I cut my teeth on tabletop RPGs with phenomenal GMs, and I guess I bring a lot of that baggage to my online gaming too.)
Fitseng lu oe, tìftia kìfkeyä seri.

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Quote from: Tanhìyärina' on January 01, 2010, 12:23:18 AM
Quote from: Lehrrap Uniltìranyu on January 01, 2010, 12:08:14 AM
I don't know if I can tell you about how the others will run theirs, but I know how I run my RPs.
I play as a in game character, but I'll just give us slight (or not so slight) shoves in the right direction of the plot as need be. But I don't think that will be nessisary. Hopefully anyway.

Excellent.  I guess the deal is, someone has to play the NPCs and the world, and as a player and not a GM, I don't feel comfortable doing that-- it feels too much like powergaming to me.  So as long as there's someone nudging or shoving or willing to take on all the non-PC parts, that will make me a lot more comfortable.  (I cut my teeth on tabletop RPGs with phenomenal GMs, and I guess I bring a lot of that baggage to my online gaming too.)
My character is defently a backround character. Trust me, he's just the pilot that gets everyone from point-A to point-B in one peice. He'll be learning Na'Vi along wtih everyone else, which is, as I said, the point of the RP.



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Tirealì'u

#14
Quote from: AterFeles on December 31, 2009, 07:54:46 PM
One thing that any player should avoid is over powering their character. I've seen too many good Rps ruined because someone wanted to be able to do everything and be a hero. Remember, teamwork is the key to success. And like Seabass, I am willing to mod any forum.

This.

This x1000 in fact.

RPing is about telling a collaborative story and... you know, good characters aren't flawless. They aren't compelling, they aren't interesting, and no one else will like them. Flaws add a lot of depth - be they physical, mental, emotional, or just not being a a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-all-of-them.

Anyway, I am, as before, very iffy on there being RP forums here. The current RP makes sense, though... But beyond that, I dunno... Seems like that should be a totally different community and site. Also something with a more set, overarching setting, so you have a persistent character and what not.

(Actually I'm worried that the RP community is already super fractured...)

Étienne

Quote from: Tirealì'u on January 01, 2010, 02:24:52 AM
Quote from: AterFeles on December 31, 2009, 07:54:46 PM
One thing that any player should avoid is over powering their character. I've seen too many good Rps ruined because someone wanted to be able to do everything and be a hero. Remember, teamwork is the key to success. And like Seabass, I am willing to mod any forum.

This.

This x1000 in fact.

RPing is about telling a collaborative story and... you know, good characters aren't flawless. They aren't compelling, they aren't interesting, and no one else will like them. Flaws add a lot of depth - be they physical, mental, emotional, or just not being a a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-all-of-them.

Anyway, I am, as before, very iffy on there being RP forums here. The current RP makes sense, though... But beyond that, I dunno... Seems like that should be a totally different community and site. Also something with a more set, overarching setting, so you have a persistent character and what not.

I'm currently working on a clan/tribe section, and for more or less the RP is to help with learning the language so that we could use words that we would normally not use.

MasterEro

If you want to see a model text based RP, you can look http://forums.feplanet.net/ Its Fire Emblem based but it is has a very in depth system that has been in place for years. So it has some good ideas.

toamoto

Is there a topic for the character creation?
Role Play Character: Toamoto Wytikstyo
Scene off Ice Age 2:
Little Sloth "to stop giant volcanic explosion, we have 1 simple logic solution, sacrifice the fire king!"
Sid "no no, sacrifice fire king bad, 200 years bad Juju!"
Little Sloth 2 oh well, worth a shot!"

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Yes Toamoto.

In the info-support forum (here), you can find the character creation sheets for the various RP's on Learn Na'vi.

However, because of the varying styles of the Forum RPs, each one probably has it's own style of character sheet/creation required for the characters, so the first step is to find a RP you are interested in and talk to the person running that RP, and figure out what you need to do to get active in it.

Good luck and happy roleplaying!



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-