| Welcome.
Because you're here you've obviously expressed some
interest in role play. Contrary to some beliefs role play
is not only a game, it is both a game...and an art, when
taken seriously and done creatively. The key, it seems to
me, is the taking of risks and the trying of new ideas. I
will keep this information short and simple.
Introduction
to Chat/Message Board Role Play in General:
The basic idea of role play is to create a fictional
character and control what happens to them through
writing their actions and writing their words. Basically
by playing them the way you created them, adjusting to
the things that happen to them as you start to interact
with others. So in order to RP(Role Play) you need to be
able to think like a character you create, you need to be
able to write their actions out, you need to be able to
write out their words, and respond as they would to
events.
OOC versus
IC:
OOC (Out of Character) and IC (In Character) are among
the hardest of concepts for new role players to grasp. To
be Out Of Character is to speak as yourself, the you
behind the computer. The one that pays bills for your
online account or for phone use. The one in the real
world. To be In Character is to speak and act as the
character you have created in the world he/she/it resides
in. You should not mix things YOU hear with the
information your CHARACTER knows. There is, in the best
of role play, a boundary between you and your character.
You are aware of your character, but your character is
not aware of you or anything that happens to you.
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Introduction
to Free Form Role Play:
Free Form Role Play is role play in which
anything can happen. There are no restrictions except for
those tacked on by the rules of the place you play stated
OOC. However, in Free Form you MUST compromise with the
other players and the things they want their characters
to do in relation to what you want your character to do,
or you are guilty of "God-Moding" which is a
terrible hinder on the real fun of role play. God Moding
also includes typing in actions or words of Other People's
character. You play your character, let them play theirs.
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Dice:
Dice are a tool to equalize a battle or an
important action. You roll the dice OOC and your
character's action, damage, or success/failure is
determined in the random numbers that come up. Some
people choose to use dice, others don't. The default dice
are /roll 2d6 which means I command the computer to
choose 2 random numbers, from 1 to 6. Rolling a 4-6
usually means you have been successful, while anything
below means you have failed. For some actions the chance
of success must be made narrower. Like 1d20 , rolling 19
or 20 means you were successful. It all must be worked
out before hand OOC.
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How to Start:
Summon up your courage and jump into one of the
chats or post a message. You'll be surprised how quickly
you can be accepted and start to get the hang of role
playing.
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Subtleties:
One subtlety I'll point out that you should
watch out for is the idea of omni-name. As an example of
this seemingly simple, but often forgotten idea let's get
a plotless scene of two characters meeting in a tavern:
_____
John walks into the tavern, smiling to himself.
Sarrah looks at John and her eyes go wide at his
greatness.
John looks at Sarrah and says, "Hello, Sarrah."
_____
What's the pont of that scene? John never met Sarrah.
How did he know her name? Maybe he's psychic. But that's
little fun. More likely it was a mistake in reasoning by
John's player. Sarrah's player made a minor mistake(in my
opinion), she used John's name in her action. But since
an action is mainly OOC for the player to read and the
text used will not come into the conciousness of the
characters IC it is acceptable. There are many more such
subtleties, but you'll find them as you go.
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