RP Starter Guide

By Vholmak

What is Roleplaying?

    Roleplaying, or "RP" is an activity where one assumes the role of a character (or roles of multiple characters) to create stories in a collaboration. RP is one of the most effective ways to immerse oneself into an imaginary reality. Roleplaying comes in different formats. You might witness tabletop (traditional) roleplay, which is generally turn-based and involves a GM(DM), or game(dungeon) master. Most RP you will witness in GW2 will be ad-lib, which means the roleplay is done live, on-the-fly. Roleplaying on forums comes in similar formats, depending on what the players have previously agreed upon. Always check the first post of a thread before diving in.

Sounds great. How do I start?

    When jumping into an active on-going RP, it's difficult to maintain a sense of presence and reality immersion without first creating a character with depth and breadth. After all, RP isn't all about hacking and slashing. Your character should have passions, hatreds, desires, needs, and perhaps even a history. Seems like a lot, doesn't it? First, don't panic and remember the acronym 'KISS' (keep it simple, stupid!). Start broad and work your way into the specifics.

    Starting simple. What race is your character? You may want to consider the paradigms of each race that you might find appealing to roleplay. Below I have listed a few traits of each race:

    Asura - intelligent, self-assured, condescending
    Charr - proud, hot-tempered, independent
    Human - well rounded
    Norn - selfless, hearty, defiant
    Sylvari - naïve, honest, enigmatic

    If you plan on RPing in Guild Wars 2, your name choice will probably be very important. Asura tend to have simple one or two syllable names such as Klagg, Irikk, and Boork.Charr use two names where the last is usually a combination of war-related words, like Orviig Bluntfist or Zattnu Warforge. Human have a first name and a last name, and should be easy to figure out. Norn usually adopt Scandinavian related names or Nordic legends, like Jörgen or Alfheimr.The sylvari have just one name, generally Gaelic or Celic in origin, which evokes images of magic or nature, like Killeen, Ambrosine, or Ellylion. Wow, not bad.

    There are also NPC races which could be roleplayed, but if this is your first time, stick with the above selection. After you have a race and a name, everything else should fit into place. You could choose a profession or start to answer questions such as: What does your character look like? Where did your character come from? What is your character's motivation in Tyria? And so forth.

I posted a biography! How do I make my character come alive?

    For that we need a thriving community that is active and wants to RP just like you do. Don't be afraid to start your own thread - who knows how it'll evolve? Or jump into an already active RP.

    There are some things to remember before you go. First, try to use good grammar and punctuation. It helps keep ideas clear and coherent. You don't have to be an English major - just don't use a whole boatload of shorthand like "LOLOMGWTFBBQ." Instead: I laugh at the absurdity of the barbecue pit in front of me. "Good gods!" I shout. Or something to that degree.

    Second, try to roleplay based on the lore of Guild Wars 2. For example, only humans worship gods, and they are polytheistic. Sylvari, Asura, Norn, and Charr do not. Sylvari have the Pale Tree and the Dream of Dreams, Asura have the Eternal Alchemy, Norn have their spirit totems, and the Charr worship the power of strength above all else.

    Third, never powerplay unless you've been given permission to do so and understand the character you are powerplaying. Powerplaying is where you roleplay another person's character in order to quicken the progress of the RP or control a certain outcome. Along similar lines, you never want to god-mode. God-moding is exactly as it suggests, where a character performs dubiously game-breaking feats. Here are some examples: characters that have lived well past their expected lifespans, feats of impossible strength, invulnerability, or wiping out an entire army of Charr singlehandedly (only reserved for King Adelburn! lulz)