Howe 2 Rp (A Comprehensive Guide On Roleplaying)

[ShadowDimentio]

(I'll get this out of the way first. Some of you may take offence to what I'm going to say further in this post. If you're someone who can't take criticism, there's the door. It has a handle located somewhere on it's plane of existance. Find it, turn it, push, and show yourself out, as you are not welcome in my world.)

 

Hello, masses of poor roleplayers on the Don't Starve community's sub-forum, I will be your replacement instructor, Shadow. You may have been familiar with the previous instructor, Hank, but he fell victim to a most unfortunate stabbing, and can't talk without blood filling his lungs, so until he overcomes that, I will be replacing him. Now, onto the lessons.

CHAPTER ONE: DESCRIPTION (Of your world and the things your character(s) do)

The first of a great many problems I've seen with the roleplay on these forums (besides the central premise of most of them being merely to 'survive', but I'll get into that later), is that very few of you actually seem to know how to roleplay. Now, you see, roleplaying is far more than thinking up your own character and typing words, it's a form of art. You have to have a firm grasp of your character, you have to give some deep thought into how exactly you'll make them interesting, and how to actually give them life. You can't just have your character say something, nor can you simply have them 'do' things. You can't just say things, like this for example-

Shadow took the knife and stabbed Hank.

No, that won't do at all. You have to put some life into it, describe things, and for the LOVE OF GOD, SPELL AND PUNCTUATE IT PROPERLY!

Shadow dug around in his pocket before slowly drawing out a switchblade and opening it, rapidly plunging it into Hank's neck, sending a small spurt of blood into the air as he fell to his knees in agony.

This, THIS, is an appropriate scene. When reading it, did you actually visualize it? This is the ultimate goal of roleplaying, and writing itself. Roleplaying is, really and truly, just writing in first-person with multiple people.

CHAPTER TWO: DIALOGUE (Advice on fluently coveying audible sound through the conductive gas of your choice, also known as talking)

 

Dialogue is very similar in that description is needed to convincingly convey almost anything said by a character. I mean, think about it. When you're talking to someone, do you not emote? If you're offering someone, say, directions, do you not normally motion or point to where they want to be going? Dialogue, at best, will only come across as half-decent when you fail to emote properly. And thisa is assuming you can even convey dialogue well in it's own rights. If you can't do even that properly, well you're just dead out of luck Here's an example of three different versions of the same basic-ish scene.

 

Hank "Where's the bus stop?"

 

Shadow "Over there."

 

No diologue scene should be this short without ample reason, nor should it be this undescriptive in not only the actions area, but the diologue area itself. Now, let's try this again.

 

Hank "Hey, buddy, where does the bus stop?"

 

Shadow "You wanna know where the bus stops?"

 

Hank "Yeah, I know it stops somewhere around here, but where exactly?"

 

Shadow "Uh, yeah, it stops right over there at the corner of Abbreton and Kenton."

 

Hank "Ah, thanks a million bud."

 

Better, but it still feels a bit... off to just having two people 'converse' like this. Here, let's try again, again.

 

Hank jogs through the rain over to Shadow as he goes to unlock his door and asks, "Hey, buddy, where does the bus stop?"

 

Shadow slides the key into his pocket and turns to face Hank, "You wanna know where the bus stops?"

 

Hank replies, "Yeah, I know it stops somewhere around here, but where exactly?"

 

Shadow pauses for a moment, recalling the location of the bus stop before piping back up, "Uh, yeah, it stops right over there at the corner of Abbreton and Kenton."

 

Hank gives a relieved sigh and shouts before taking off to the stop, "Thanks a million bud!"

 

There. Now that looks better, doesn't it? Expression is an important part of writing, and an even more important part of roleplaying as it gives the other roleplayers something to... ROLL with! Get it? Because roleplay sounds like it starts... with... roll...

 

CHAPTER THREE: THE BASIC PREMISE (Starting a new roleplaying thread, and creating a creative world)

 

Okay. This is the most important thing I'm going to say in this entire class. If I see one more roleplaying thread whose central premise is "You're on an island. Survive", I'm going to go find my shotgun and start hunting you down. This is neither a creative, nor interesting base to start good roleplaying on, I don't care what you say. It's not. The central premise is supposed to be interesting and original, not something that you do because 'everyone else's doing it', or because you lack the creative ability to think up a good one. Try to be creative! Just think of a world and apply some simple rules to it, then take it from there with an invested team of competent roleplayers and forge something great! That's all the advice I can build you for starting a new world.

Welp, this is all the help I can give you all. I hope you take it to heart, and I wish you luck in your future endeavors!

[Battal]

There is already one of these guide threads, but I gotta admit, this is a really good tutorial.  And I fully agree there are some pretty crappy RPers out there.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Lord_Battal

[ShadowDimentio]

There is already one of these guide threads, but I gotta admit, this is a really good tutorial.  And I fully agree there are some pretty crappy RPers out there.

Mission: ACCOMPLISHED

 

But seriously, I suppose this is the least I could do to guide the unrefined masses into something tolerable. Hell, with some luck I might cherry-pick a few of the best roleplayers on the forum and start a project of my own. Eheheh...

[Battal]

Mission: ACCOMPLISHED

 

But seriously, I suppose this is the least I could do to guide the unrefined masses into something tolerable. Hell, with some luck I might cherry-pick a few of the best roleplayers on the forum and start a project of my own. Eheheh...

I'd probably join, just because of this tutorial xD

[ShadowDimentio]

I'd probably join, just because of this tutorial xD

Dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing. My true abilities as a writer are in world building, and roleplaying a very specific type of character. So yeah. FUN!

[Battal]

Well, you could say I'm an okay roleplayer...I mean, I can spell, at least.  But I do have my own thread as well.

[ShadowDimentio]

Well, you could say I'm an okay roleplayer...I mean, I can spell, at least.  But I do have my own thread as well.

You and your roleplaying thread seem decent enough, however the bar for entry to get in is quite low, and my advice to you is to to always cherry-pick from the best to ensure a better experience for everyone. Never be afraid to deny someone, and definately not to criticize.

 

Also: The cazier/wilder a character looks from the beggining is only a sign of what's to come. Keep it sane, and keep their stories logical.

Edited August 30, 2013 by ShadowDimentio

[Rabbitfist]

this is an awesome guide, and i thought a big part of roleplayers died

[ShadowDimentio]

this is an awesome guide, and i thought a big part of roleplayers died

From what I can tell nearly all the good ones did. How sad.

[Battal]

Also: The cazier/wilder a character looks from the beggining is only a sign of what's to come. Keep it sane, and keep their stories logical.

Well, that can be your opinion, but in mine, the crazier or illogical the character is, the better their backstory is going to be, as well as their contributions.

[ShadowDimentio]

Well, that can be your opinion, but in mine, the crazier or illogical the character is, the better their backstory is going to be, as well as their contributions.

Depends on the execution, to be honest. That's what makes a good roleplayer, they can execute the scenes and characters they make properly.

[Sabeku]

Wow, I enjoy this guide a lot, and the snarkiness you carry through it. I agree with most of what you've said, but I'm curious on your opinion on this: What if a person doesn't know how to be descriptive? I know this is the meat of a RP post; description (Assuming punctuation is okay), but how does someone improve on this skill?

[ShadowDimentio]

Wow, I enjoy this guide a lot, and the snarkiness you carry through it. I agree with most of what you've said, but I'm curious on your opinion on this: What if a person doesn't know how to be descriptive? I know this is the meat of a RP post; description (Assuming punctuation is okay), but how does someone improve on this skill?

It's something you have to practice at. As I said in the guide, roleplaying and writing are a form of art, and if you have the punctuation and grammatical part down, all I can say is 'try to get better', since there's nothing I can really say to help you in that regard.

[Tesability]

This tutorial gets a big AMEN out of me. I started my own roleplay and decided to be rather picky about whom I let in it, going as far as looking at past posts. I take the art seriously, as it should be. It's alright to have certain charaters you can't play as (I can't play Wolfgang to save my life), but at least put noticeable effort into what you DO play as.

[zomnat]

...... you do realize that RPing is meant to be fun? cause when i read this, it almost made me want to give up on it forever. almost