Post by Natalie Brice on May 5, 2006 18:49:40 GMT -5
New to Roleplay?
[/color]Not to worry! We're here to help![/center]
How to Roleplay
Welcome to the world of roleplaying - an interactive writing game that involves its participants in different ranges of emotions while accomplishing a complete plot.
Roleplaying, itself, is simple. Just follow these guidlines and you'll be all set.
Joining
To first get started, you will need to join a roleplaying thread, and then establish your character. As long as you don't join the thread at the "wrong time", you should start out with a post that follows the beginning poster's character format. Adapt or create your character biography so it fits the story layout.
Make sure your character does not have unjustifiable super powers, or some god like or unfair advantage over other players. This is called godmoding (Note: See Rules for more on the subject.) Try to handle only one character at one time in the beginning, or it becomes very confusing. Once you become familiar with the system, you can be more adventurous. Of course, you may have a pet or some sort of tag-along, as long as it doesn't give you any unfair advantages.
Now that you've joined, stay active. Don't drop out of the RP or stop checking in one day. It becomes very annoying. But, if you want to leave an RP, do it without causing disturbance (i.e.killing your character). You can always come in at a later time, but remember, don't cause a disturbance! Do not continue joining and dropping out of an RP though.
Now, it's time to start posting.
Posting
To get started, you must get accustomed to the style. Here, at Who You Gonna Call?, we have a preferred style that is generally accepted throughout many roleplaying forums on the internet, and we have a set of rules to prevent overpowering or "cheating".
Medium length descriptive paragraphs should be written for every post, as preferred. Do not use (for example) two new lines after every sentence. It looks very "unprofessional" and many roleplayers do not do this. An example of a good post would be:
Dean walked slowly up to the cabinet, and with a quick pull, he opened the door, spilling its contents onto the floor. Rummaging through the mess, he found a bright golden key, marked with "Metallicar". In his mind, he said to himself, That's it! That's the key we've been looking for! With no delay, he ran down the stairs and screamed to his younger brother Sam, "Hey! I found the key!"
Paragraphs can be longer, and there can be more than one (just don't overdo it). Remember, this is not a one-person story. It's active, and other people will need time to catchup on what they miss while they were absent.
Also, very importantly, do not switch point of views, or tenses. It becomes confusing. 1st person with present tense or 3rd person with past tense are two great combinations.
General Posting Syntax
Normal text represents actions (i.e. I ran up to him and handed him a sword.)
"Quoted text" represents speech (i.e. He said to her "I need your bag") - Remember to address the subject and the receiving character clearly.
Italicized Text represents character thought (i.e. Sam thought, This can't be happening. It just can't happen to me.)
((Text surrounded with two parenthesis)) represents messages to be said outside the roleplay (i.e. ((Hey, that was a smooth move)))
Fight/Combat Scenes
Now, fight scenes. There may be battle scenes but only when it involves the story in some way. This can be a very touchy subject. Following these guidelines will prevent abuses and such. First of all, try to keep battles within 2 to 10 posts of length (but it can be longer or shorter if needed). Do not use numbers and calculations (i.e. the monster lost 5 HP). No one will want to calculate all of this. The monster will die when the monster dies. Just go with the flow, but don't use super powers that kill strong enemies in one blow. Stretch out posts or give other "team members" their own function.
(Rules thanks to sk89q of Keiichi Anime Forever Forums. Modified by Natalie Brice.)
If there are still things that need to be cleared up, please post them in the General Help section.