Basic Roleplay Guide

Started by Doomburger, 22-11-2011

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Doomburger

Newbie's Survival Guide to Roleplaying

All credit goes to the original author.

If you are new to roleplaying there are a lot of impressions coming at you.   

    * The very first thing you have to realize is that there is no goal in a roleplaying game. At least not one that defines you have won the game. You may set a goal for your game character but the game itself does not. This may take some getting used to but it comes to feel very naturally to you after you have played for a while.

    * The second hurdle to take to deal with the fact that you are not alone. What you are going to do in the game reflects on others. And the reverse is true as well, naturally. This may not seem much of a difference at first glance but it is. It means that you can not realistically play the game alone. This is also what in our opinion sets a roleplaying game apart from the more typical mud. There you can play happily, if perhaps not effectively, on your own. But a roleplaying game does not exist without the participation of others.

    * Thirdly there is the first bit of advise I got when I started with roleplaying: Do not be yourself. If you are going to roleplay then take on that role and make it your own. The biggest part of the fun of these games is not scoring points, nor defeating that foul (or disgustingly pure) enemy. But to work out how the character you are portraying would react to the ever changing situations the game, and the other players present it with. In this roleplaying strongly resembles (free-style) acting; without the benefit of a script or director to tell you what to do. However, if your character basically is yourself there won't be much role to play. It may be easy but it will hardly be fun.

   
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Tips for setting up your character:

    * Give your character a history. After all he/she is not newly born in the game even if it is to you. Where did he/she come from? What events shaped his/her personality? And how does he/she react to the common situations he/she will be facing in the game? Obviously this requires a certain familiarity with the theme of the game.

    * Keep your character close to yourself, but not too close. If you are new to roleplaying you may find it difficult to adopt a wildly different personality. If you are shy then do not immediately make a character that is the exact opposite. As you are getting better at roleplaying you will be more confident to handle different personalities.

    * Do not make your character too powerful, nor too weak. Either choice is boring, the first because there is no challenge to a god-like creature. If your character can make his enemies disappear at the snap of his fingers you will find nobody is interested to roleplay with you.

      Being too weak has similar disadvantages. If your character can not affect anything around him/her there is nothing much to do. He/she will be the victim to any possible conflict and roleplay will be equally short and uninteresting.

      The best advice to give here is: be modest and be reasonable. Give your character both strengths and weaknesses, both fitting with its history. This offers you situations your character can confidently handle and situations he/she will need the help of others for.

    * Get familiar with your character. This may seem a little odd but take the time to do this. You will have to decide how your character is going to behave facing unpredictable situations. Often in split second decisions. If you can really feel into your character you do not have to worry about how to do this. It will come naturally to you.

    * Make your character social. This is obvious. The aim of the game is to interact with other players and play out the reactions of your characters to the events, making up the history as you do so. If your character is haunting the forest all day, or sits on a tree top contemplating the meaning of life, your roleplaying won't be very interesting. There is a subtler side to this as well. Loners, or anti-social characters, are extremely difficult to roleplay well and still have a fun time while doing it. This includes characters that distrust everybody, are foreigners, or are flat-out evil.

    * Finally. Ask questions. You are new and people do not expect you to know everything yet. They won't mind if you make mistakes and in general will be happy to answer your questions if you ask them privately. But keep it moderate and polite. Other players generally do not mind answering a couple of question but are probably a bit annoyed if you prevent them from actually playing the game themselves. With a little thought and reading the help you can work out on your own how most things work. If you really are out of your depth ask other players for information.


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Some final things to keep in mind:
   

When you are playing a roleplaying game you do not play it alone.

There are few or many other players involved. Each of them has his own ideas of what should be going on next, and there is often little time to ask permission to bring in an unexpected twist to a plot. This is one of the biggest charms of roleplaying, that you are going to be surprised by the actions of other players and that you have to deal with them. However, because people differ it is inevitable that from time to time things do not work out the way you would have liked them to. Throwing a temper tantrum when this happens is not going to be of much use. Keep in mind that nobody owns a story or plot in a roleplaying game. There is no director, but often there is somebody who wants to use a particular plot to explore the character they are roleplaying. Putting a new twist in a plot is perfectly fine, but hijacking it is somewhat rude. Take the time to see if the plot is developing before doing something dramatic. And if you are uncertain: ask.

Some final words of advice:

    * Do not accept it when somebody else is being a jerk. You are playing the game to have a good time, not to allow somebody else to vent his frustrations. If somebody is behaving like a jerk, inform an administrator. Moaning about the fact won't do you any good. Feeling miserable because somebody was being exceptionally rotten to you won't, either. This last is easier said than done, unfortunately.

    * The game will not be all puppies and rainbows. After all, the driving force of most (hi)story is conflict so you can expect a fair amount of that in any game that is interesting to play. The important trick is to remember that there should be a certain amount of agreement on the direction of a plotline and everybody should have some room to escape the final consequence of a conflict gracefully.