Tips on roleplaying?

Zael

I am not good at roleplaying at all so if anyone could give me some pointers on how to create it, that would be awesome.

Nizaris

Hi, @Zael.

I think that a lot of people will look at this thread and offer advice emphasizing a few different points here and there.

First off, there's a tendency to think that role play exists in its own little box, and we take it out from time to time and play with it, putting it away when we are finished. Same with combat. Make sure that whatever you do, you are always role playing.

Second, I highly recommend becoming comfortable with EMOTEs and TMOTEs. Actually, scratch that, just become comfortable with TMOTEs (HELP TMOTE), because you can omit the special TMOTE $ tags, and it reverts back to a basic emote in function. Why on earth they have two separate commands, I will never know.

Regarding TMOTEs, I recommend having a few (read: few) predefined TMOTES for things that your character does often. Nizaris has a special blessing that he gives sometimes for greetings and farewells, and I have that aliased. @Xer has pretty cool emotes for the veins in his temple bulging as he thinks. There are others, as well. They should be treated like seasoning: they are not the main course of the meal so-to-speak; they are meant to be "sprinkled in" and to add to atmosphere. The real joy of role play comes when you find yourself able to write and maintain fluid conversation and emotes off the cuff, not by using personally canned emotes. But, these canned emotes are a great first step to take.

Third, start looking at your character as someone with a backstory that is constantly evolving. Whether or not you write a backstory for your character, recognize that each interaction that your character has from here on out affects them and informs them. Therefore, what your character does now will one day be your character's backstory. I consider myself to focus primarily on RP and not combat, and I don't have a backstory written for what life was like for Nizaris before the Trial; I also have no interest in writing one or thinking one up because Nizaris is around 200 years old, and he has enough history based on interactions with other characters that his life before the trial is now meaningless.

Fourth, integrate conflict with your RP. Not necessarily combat, but certainly conflict. Example: during the Bal'met saga, Nizaris was pursuing entrance to Apollyon's Order. When Apollyon's temple was destroyed by @Ourania, he was livid. When Apollyon was killed, Nizaris was suicidal. He took out his rage on his mother, @Kotyonok, who just so happened to be the order head (I think) of Ourania's order. Neither Koty nor I are very skilled in combat, and so that wasn't really an option for us to pursue, but angry words were definitely exchanged, etc. Nizaris now looks down on Hashan quite a bit, as is evidenced in one of his recent public posts to Hashan. While Nizaris will certainly take part in raids and defense, he's not a combatant (at least as much as I'd like for him to be). But, there's still room for conflict-driven RP even when you're not a combatant, and that helps to add purpose to your character.

Finally: have fun. Surround yourself with people who role-play well, and probably more importantly, those who role play consistently. Ask yourself how your character will respond in a given circumstance, and allow this accumulated history to develop your character's personality naturally.

Zael

Thank you @Nizaris for the help, I will learn from this.

Sybilla

I really like @Nizaris' point about 'sprinkling in' TMOTEs as you interact - that is what you can also do with other aspects of your character to give him more realism within the world he inhabits.

Who is Zael? What are his ambitions and motivations? Why? What is his personality like? Once you start to answer these sorts of questions about your character, you can then bounce off the situations you encounter from there. This ties in with Nizaris' point about evolving your story, each time you're met with a choice and make a decision, it is a way to impact your character.

It's the little things too, like quirks and preferences. For instance, Sybilla is left-handed. Now that doesn't mean she goes on a tirade about right-bound journals, scabbards and quills, you'd probably not even realise she was in fact, but when she goes to wield something she'll pick the left first. She prefers fish to red meat. She thinks Tsol'aa are better at writing than other races (calligraphy-wise at least). She has a soft-spot for atavians which hasn't always been a good thing for her...

There's a myriad of ways you can flesh it out, and that's how it helps to develop it. If you were a person in the world/canon of Achaea, who would you be? Zael is Ashtani and in the Ashura (I think?), why is that? Start from the bigger points that define him and work down from there.

Also, check out the DATE, TIME and FORECAST, it's good for when you're stuck and can just gripe about the weather at this time of year...

Chryenth

Griping about the weather is an excellent icebreaker. I went to Cyrene and gripped about the weather, and left as a member of Scarlatti's lay Order. Was good.

Shirszae

Cyrene's weather being totally crazy makes it doubly so. .  :P

Adet

Building on @Sybilla's post, I used these when I created Adet.  I think they were on the old forums - but I can't remember who posted them (possibly @Cinya).  I answered them at the time, and occasionally look back at my answers to see how they've changed and what's stayed the same (and what I had in mind for RP opportunities, but never actually did).  I have a "cheat sheet" of sorts, which contains the answers to these questions, my posted background, and important things I've shared about Adet - so even if I go dormant for a while, I can look at that and (hopefully) not contradict myself when I come back.

1) What kind of character do I want to play? What is going to provide me with enjoyment?

2) What type of personality is my character going to have?

3) What kind of beliefs will my character have?

4) Does my character already have a family in the form of other players?

5) In what ways does my character's race affect his or her personality/beliefs/appearance/history/background/etc? HELP <character's race> will be helpful here.

6) What are my character's attitudes toward other Houses, races, organizations, cities, etc?

7) In what ways does my character's choice of House affect his or her personality/beliefs/appearance/history/background/etc? Has my character already been in other Houses? How can I explain this in his or her background? How do previous House choices affect my character's personality and beliefs (particularly in relation to those previous Houses)? Is my character's current House the right one for him or her to be in? HELP HOUSE <house name> will be helpful in considering such questions.

8) Where should my character be from originally? HELP GEOGRAPHY lists the various areas of the world. You should pick some place that exists (don't make up some whimsical place that no other players will know about).

As @Nizaris said, adding some TMOTEs can be effective.  I've replaced some of the standard emotes with my own, as well - just because I don't want to nod my head emphatically, or wander around raising a hand in greeting and saying "hi" to people.  That kind of thing isn't so much "roleplaying" as "building a persona" - but I find that one leads to the other relatively easily.

Arditi

I recommend challenging people to darts.

Perhaps even putting a wager on it.

(Note: This may not work for non-Mhaldorians, as most non-Mhaldorians frown upon 'speak in nothing but Apocrypha quotes')

Xenomorph

To be a good roleplayer, or even an ok one, you first must.. Hmm..rather I meant -as- a roleplayer you should always.. ok, im not a 100% but isnt a roleplayer a really old iPod from the 70's?

Cinya

I miss you @Adet.

Vayne

Cinya said:

I miss you @Adet.

Come to the Dark side.

Trevize

My rules for roleplaying:

1) Keep OOC and IC seperate. Player is not character is not player.

2) Only 'build' the ordinary. Even extraordinary people (ie. heroes) are typically not that way by default. They are just ordinary people, to whom extraordinary circumstances are forced upon, and they handled it well.

3) Play well with others. You are not writing a novel alone: you're taking a small role in a group story that has been going on for over ten years. Make it all about you, and you will likely be ignored, at best.

4) Pay attention. You're much more likely to start something interesting by noticing something unusual as regards someone or something else, than you are by trying to get someone else to notice you.

Silas

Gtfo my A'det.