Saeth's Roleplaying Guide

Saeth's Roleplaying Guide

PDF

Print

E-mail

Written by Saeth Ceathue
Thursday, 10 July 2008 08:50
Saeth’s Roleplaying Guide "I'm too excited to talk right now." -Trikan Likran INTRODUCTION The first question that comes to mind is the obvious one- what is roleplay, and why do people do it? Throughout our lives, many of us take on the perspectives of others, looking through their eyes and seeing things as they do, or even pretending we are them. That’s what roleplay is- the act of being or pretending to be someone else whom you aren’t. For some people, it’s a great way to relax or escape from the rigors of the real world, and for others it’s a great way of finding entertainment and intellectual stimulation. WHAT THIS GUIDE IS AND ISN’T This guide is simply that- a guide. It’s intended as a guardrail to guide people along the road so they don’t fall too far off. Make no mistake, though- there are many levels and paths in the art of roleplaying, not just one, and this guide tries to cover the basics of all those levels and paths. The Basics section details the very basic level of roleplay and what roleplayers do. It also goes over the very basic vocabulary associated with it. The Advanced Roleplay section is intended more of a collection of suggestions for improvement beyond the basics, and covers concepts most veteran roleplayers will encounter in their experiences. The guide itself is meant to be a general overview of roleplay, not specific to any sort of genre or game in and of itself. It can be applied to NeverWinter Nights, Diablo 2, Counterstrike, or Guild Wars equally- it doesn’t matter. However, this guide’s more detailed subjects use Guild Wars as its base. Read the guide carefully, but keep in mind there are many different levels and paths for roleplay. Read it- digest it- reflect on it- but don’t feel as if you have to change your own style of roleplay to suit someone else’s style. Everyone has their own way of doing things- keep that in mind as you read. THE BASICS The basic requirement for being a roleplayer and to roleplay is just that- to be able to roleplay. The player has to be able to transfer their perspective over to their character’s perspective, and to be able to look at situations and events from that perspective. This usually involves two concepts: In-Character: This is the type of chat roleplayers remain in- they rarely leave it, and make every effort to remain in it. There are times when players will need to break into out-of-character chat to make a note to the other players, but generally, these don’t happen often. When in-character, the player is acting like their character, not themselves. It’s generally referred to as IC chatter. Out-Of-Character: This is the type of chat that is used primarily for player communications beyond the in-character realm. Out-of-character chat is commonly referred to as OOC chatter, and happens when the player needs to chat as himself and not his character. Out-of-character chat is denoted in a plethora of ways, ranging from double-parenthesis around the statement ( (( Out of character statement )) ), double-brackets around the statement ( [[ Out of character statement ]] ), an actual out-of-character denotation at the front of the statement ( OOC: Out of character statement ), and an infinite variation of these and others. It’s usually easy to tell when someone is talking in an out-of-character fashion. Example: Player A: Greetings. Player B: hello Player A: I’m Nurok. Player B: pleasure to meet you. i’m rune Player A: (( Oops, sorry- I got to run. Bye. )) Player B: [[ ok cya ]] IC and OOC chat can be communicated in many ways throughout many games. Typically, however, each community settles on its own style of using the chat channels and where to meet, depending on the game. For Guild Wars, the most commonly used methods of using the chat channels are: All Channel: This is the general roleplay channel in adventure areas and the international districts. This is NOT the case in the American, European, or other national districts. In these cases, the team chat channel is commonly used, since usually there’s too much spam on this channel resulting from non-roleplayers. Team Channel: This is used for general roleplay in the event the roleplayers are in a national district (as detailed above). While in an international district or an adventure area, however, this can be used as an OOC chat channel or a plot narration channel for a player running a plot. Guild Channel: In some guilds, this is used exclusively for OOC chat. In other guilds, it’s primarily for roleplay. As far as IC chats on this channel are concerned, this channel is considered to be a sort of “telepathy” between characters interacting on it, since they’re nowhere near each other. Trade Channel: This is a rarely used chat channel, for obvious reasons. However, if a player needs another chat channel for plot narration and the team channel is already being used, then this chat channel can be used. For example, if a player is roleplaying as an NPC (non-player character) as well as his own character, he can use the All channel for his character, and the team or trade channel to roleplay as the NPC. In a case where there are two NPC’s, he can use the team and the trade channels together- one for each NPC. Tell / Whisper Channel: Most people use this for OOC chat, but some people can also use this to emulate close-range whispers and, in some cases, a private version of guild chat. The act of using the team and the trade channels for plot narration helps the other players in keeping what the NPC’s are doing separate from what the narrator’s character is doing. Otherwise, there can be some severe confusion between the different aspects of the roleplayer. The idea of plot narration is covered in further depth in the Advanced Roleplay section. EMOTES This covers the section about normal IC and OOC chat, but it doesn’t cover one thing- actions. A great deal of roleplay revolves around taking actions and sometimes words simply aren’t enough to describe an action. This is where the concept of an emote comes into play. Simply put, an emote is a description of an action taken by the character. Emotes are denoted in much the same way that OOC chat is, with symbols at both the beginning and end of the statement. Most people prefer to use the asterisk () for this symbol, but others use colons (:) or double asterisks (). There are many variations of this, of course, but emotes can almost always be recognized by the third person perspective they’re written from (ex. He looked down upon the ground at her with a frown.). Usually in groups, the first type- and most commonly encountered- is used. This type is primarily from the third person view, using pronouns such as “he,” and “she.” When only two people are roleplaying together, sometimes the emotes will be put into the first person, or a sort of mix between first person and third (ex. you and your). Generally, however, third-person view emotes are the most common, and can be used in any situation, though first person emotes can make the action seem a little bit more real, sine they’re directed directly at the character. Also take notice that sometimes asterisks are used in different instances for different reasons- not just emotes. Often times, if a player makes a typo and decides to correct it, he will precede the correction with a single asterisk, but no asterisk after the correction (ex. Apple). Also, a character may want to stress a word, which would normally be done in italics, but since many games lack an italics option, asterisks are used around a single word to stress its importance (ex. “I need you.” ). Dashes are also used for this in some cases- variations almost always exist, but are typically easy to figure out. These are the bare-bones rules behind the art of roleplay, and perhaps the only rules that are widely used and accepted. Adhering to them will make you able to interact with total-stranger roleplayers you meet throughout your travels. These basic rules are very similar to a language- if either of the players fails to adhere to these, there can be some significant friction and confusion between the players concerning their roleplay. When in doubt about the specific use of a chat channel or IC / OOC chatter, ask! ADVANCED ROLEPLAY This section runs over a legion of concepts, and comes in no particular order or sequence. Some concepts don’t exist in some genres or games, and others are constant throughout. Regardless, each concept described here is preceded by the title in bold. Consider these as more for those who are more experienced in roleplay, or are comfortable with total immersion into roleplay. These are suggestions- not rules. Game-Mechanics Independence Since roleplay involves the in-game character’s perspective and not the real world, it becomes necessary to define what aspects of the game itself should be considered in-character and which ones should be considered out-of-character. For example, the character himself doesn’t have access to the game menus, nor the options screen. He cannot see damage numbers appear above monsters when he hits them for damage, nor can he see the names of other characters floating around their person. He hears messages in chat channels if they’re in-character, and doesn’t hear messages that are out-of-character. Characters also have an audible hearing range depending on the character, so they can’t hear what other characters say outside that range- despite the fact the game displays what they said in the chat box. This concept plays both ways, however. Just because the game-mechanics don’t allow a character to jump off a cliff, doesn’t mean he can’t do this (in such a case, the nearby players “imagine” the character having jumped off the cliff, even though the character is still there- sometimes the player will have the character sit down to indicate having fallen). A character could also have wings or a tail- or any other slight appearance changes- because of this concept. Just because the game doesn’t support you doing it, doesn’t mean you can’t do it- all that’s required is a bit of imagination. Metagaming or Metaroleplaying This topic is rather touchy for some people, and it can often lead to witch-hunts. Metagaming (or Metaroleplaying, as it’s known by some) is when a character gains information that he shouldn’t know IC and acts upon it. For example, if a character has just met another character for the first time, and speaks his name without knowing it in-character, this is metagaming (some characters, however, can know other character’s names even if they haven’t met them before- telepathy is an example of this). This is generally very frowned upon, as it breaks in-character sequence and can cheat some people out of their roleplay (for example, if the villain is subversive but a player was told OOC about his true nature, and then that player’s character suddenly knows and tells other characters, it ruins the whole plot). Plots and Plot Narration Plots are storylines that go beyond the typical “tavern-talk” that is the more common form of roleplay. Plots are usually managed by one person (called the Dungeon Master or Narrator) with others helping him or her, and can sometimes involve NPC’s. Generally, plots center on the narrator’s character and serve to tell a more in-depth story about that character, or reveal information about that character that would normally not be made known under other circumstances. Sometimes, during a plot sequence, it may be necessary for the narrator to assume the role of an NPC or give a more general narration to describe a scene or situation. In such cases, Plot Narration is used. This is when the narrator uses other chat channels (usually trade or team) for NPC dialogue or general narration. Abbreviations Grammatical abbreviations are often used on the internet- not so frequently in roleplay. In fact, in some communities, using internet abbreviations such as “u” instead of “you” and “ty” instead of “thanks” is outright outlawed. The abbreviations are thought to detract from the overall IC immersion people often seek in roleplay, and thus, most people avoid them. Grammar and Syntax The act of fully punctuating everything said IC is by no means a requirement or even widely endorsed for roleplay- it’s simply something many veteran roleplayers tend to do after many years of roleplaying. Think of it as reading a book- the act of using grammar and punctuation is for simply adding to appearances. Character Names Like abbreviations, most roleplayers tend to use unique and original character names that reflect the real world’s names. Not so much for non-roleplayers, however, as they tend to name their characters things such as “Big Man With Weapon” or “Darth Vader.” Some communities wearily allow this, while others outright outlaw it. Like abbreviations, character names are thought to add to the immersion and not detract from it. Originality is the key when naming a character. Note, however, that some characters are known by a nickname such as “Sunder” or “Hate.” Nicknames are generally an exception. Character Backstory Creating a character can be easy- it can be done in a few mere seconds, and the rest is made up as they go. However, character backstories are a good way of “fleshing out,” or designing, a character such that his personality is more in-depth, unique, and thought out. It also serves as a means for a character to interact with other characters on a more personal basis (such as being a survivor of the Orrian Cataclysm). Character backstories explain the “why” of a character- why he is where he is today, why he did what he did, and so on. Backstories add atmosphere to the roleplaying environment and also serve as a basis for many plots. Some players create a character with a basic story (where he was born, personal details, growing up, and so on- not much more than a simple paragraph) and then record the rest as the days pass by. Thus, a few months later, they can vibrantly explain their character’s backstory as if it really did happen- since it actually did. Dynamic Characters Dynamic characters are characters whose personalities change over time. The most commonly used example of this is the evil character who has been redeemed to a path of righteousness and good- the character’s personality has “dynamically” changed from evil to good. Dynamic character changes can be small or extreme, and typically happen through plots or other intense events, such as the death of a close friend or even parents. This adds more to the roleplaying atmosphere as it portrays the character as having a living personality that grows as time goes on. Static Characters Static characters are the exact opposite of a dynamic character. Static characters can still be every bit as fun as dynamic ones, since it’s easier to keep track of their progress and enjoy them more. Their personalities and feelings remain set in stone, regardless of what happens. Plot Hooks Plot hooks are areas in a character’s backstory or personality that are good targets for plot material. Usually, these are mysterious blurs in the backstory or unresolved issues in the past that were never taken care of or fulfilled. They continue to haunt the character’s personality, and thus, serve as “hooks” for future plots involving that character. One or two of these at any one time is usually enough. Character Hooks These are links to other characters a character might have in their backstory or personality. This primarily refers to two characters sharing a few similar qualities in their personalities and becoming good friends as a result. For another example, all the people in an in-character organization share a common character hook (such as a guild or clan). Elitism or Nazism These two concepts are very dangerous and ought to be avoided at all costs. Both of them are one in the same, and revolve around the idea that one person is more experienced, and thus, better than another. More experienced roleplayers might treat the more inexperienced roleplayers like dirt, or outright alienate them from any sort of roleplay. Elitism is also known as being elitist. OOC Anonymity This is a gem amongst roleplay. Total OOC anonymity means that you never get to know who is beyond the characters you interact with during roleplay- the characters are all you ever see. This is a key part in the total immersion style of roleplay, where OOC chat of any type is avoided to achieve a perfect atmosphere. OOC anonymity is a subject of some dispute, but generally, it’s better to have this than to not have it. People become more like family OOC as a result of a lack of anonymity, but at the expense of immersion. Also, many people refuse to give out information on the internet for privacy reasons. Others would rather not know, or be known, in order to maintain their own safety for this reason. In-Character Relationships In-character relationships are nothing like the real world’s version of them- that’s first and foremost. They typically don’t begin with dating or anything even close to that- instead, the relationship flowers through adventures together, and from there, either breaking up or leading up to an in-character marriage. These, obviously, don’t happen very often, but tend to be a big attraction for roleplayers from tens of hundreds of guilds. It’s not uncommon to draw a crowd of at least fifty players with a properly advertised wedding- so this definitely isn’t for the shy or timid. There are two views on how marriages and relationships work- one of them states that the relationship isn’t a binding pact of any sort, and is mainly a plot device available to both characters, as well as a character hook. The other states that the marriage and relationship is an implied pact between two players to roleplay their characters together. Regardless of the view, an in-character relationship and marriage can be one of the most exciting and interesting of the roleplaying experiences. Permadeath As the name implies, permadeath is death that’s permanent. While in many roleplaying games, it’s possible to resurrect a slain character, permadeath prevents this. Typically it occurs in a situation where there is no possible way for the character to legitimately survive and he therefore cannot be resurrected. While game-mechanics may still allow for a resurrection, permadeath is a concept for roleplay which prevents this (See Game-Mechanics Independence, above). Permadeath most often happens when the player behind a roleplay character decides that the roleplay experience with a certain character has become stagnant. The character is permakilled (another term for permadeath), and the player creates a new one. Also of note is the fact that permadeath can be forced upon a character by another player. While this may be the case, it’s also considered extremely rude and disrespectful to force another character into this sort of a situation without that character’s player’s consent to a permakill. In-Character / Out-of-Character Separation While roleplay can be very enjoyable, it’s also necessary to make sure players are able to separate the IC world and the OOC world. Just because a player hates another player’s character doesn’t mean he should hate the other player as well as his character. However, this happens all too often, and even moreso with OOC Anonymity (See above) since players have no familiarity with each other whatsoever. This concept also relates somewhat to the Metagaming concept (See above). Players must be very careful- characters are rarely mirror reflections of the people they’re played by! Group Roleplay (8+ Players) At certain times, large groups of roleplayers may get together. In such instances, chat may become extremely cluttered and confusing, making it easy to miss people who address your character. These sorts of cluttered mobs can be dangerous in that they can make players feel ignored or rejected by other players, due to a failure of communication. Avoid large groups when possible, but if a player ends up as a part of one, they should make an effort to double-scan their chat window or search for certain words, such as their character’s name being spoken by someone else (indication of desired attention). Using whispers or directly stating the recipient’s name before your sentence may help in sorting through the confusion as well. Also note that Plots and Plot Narration (See above) becomes extremely chaotic when the plot involves a large group of roleplayers. In such cases, a single player may have to deal with ten or more other players taking actions, and he may need to respond to each separately. Narrators and Dungeon Masters should make a viable attempt to keep their plot populations down to around six people at the most to avoid confusion. In-Character Conflict This is perhaps one of the most important concepts in all of roleplay. Roleplay often revolves around plots and plot narrations, but the driving force behind those plots is most often a conflict of some sort. Often times, player’s characters will face conflicts with other player’s characters, and these can be some of the most interesting, dynamic, and vibrant plots out there. It’s important to remember In-Character / Out-of-Character Separation (See above) when dealing with such conflicts, however.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 July 2008 08:55 )