So, you're new to roleplaying? Perhaps a bit rusty and need a refreshing course? Or maybe you're just curious~ All the same, this guide will teach you all about roleplaying, from the terms, genres, styles and more. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading and take a bit away from it to evolve you're own roleplaying ;3 Remember you don't need to follow everything I list or even agree with how I look at how rolepalying works. You are however welcome to use them as a guideline or even offer suggestions.
Firstly, the big question: What is roleplaying?
There are many forms of roleplaying and the term differs from person to person. In a general sense it's where a person plays or acts out as a character in a certain setting or situation. It can be through text, verbally or even played out in actions. You have all sorts of RPG (roleplay games), from the fantasy adventures of Final Fantasy to tabletop Dungeons and Dragons. However on Feral-Heart we use the all so popular text based roleplaying, which is what I'll be going over and teaching you about.
---xXx---Characters,The very first step in beginning you're journey in the roleplay community, is creating characters. You're characters are who you'll be playing as in your adventures and flinging into various plots and settings. As such, this step is fairly important to getting started. When creating any character the key is to be original about it without going overboard. A few good things to think and ask yourself are below.
-What does your character look like?
-How would they act in certain situations?
-Strengths? Weaknesses?
-What species even is your character?
-Do they have certain powers?
-Did anything happen to them in their past?
-What's their story? How did they end up where they are currently?
When thinking up of a character try to avoid being overly cliche. You want to be original and creative with your characters, maybe even give them some qualities of yourself if you like. When creating characters the possibilities are vast and endless, be as creative as you like and don't be afraid to think out of the box. It's also wise to think about what theme of roleplay you'll be using said characters in.
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Different Styles,
There are many ways and techniques to roleplay. I'll only list the most common types you'll run into on Feral-Heart, which are turn-based. The roleplay community however as tons of different ways to go about roleplaying and variations with new ones being formed daily.
Simple Roleplaying- This is a very basic, generic form of roleplaying typically used by newer roleplayers. Action marks such as - and * are used for actions and the posts are made up of lines or even single phrases. Dialogue may or may not be in quotation marks.
Example,
*Stretches and yawns looking about* Wow, it's pretty quiet here.
Speed Roleplaying- The faster you type, the better off you are in roleplays like this. They are based off of the speed of posts, typically used for fighting. May or may not use action marks like simple roleplaying. Posts are normally small, simple and neat for efficiency. Typically found in love-action chats.
Example,
Bob: The canine growls and lunges for the other male
Fred: He dodges the attack quickly.
Fred: Bane moves to bite his neck.
Sentence Roleplaying- Another basic roleplaying style. Action marks aren't used here usually, but it isn't uncommon either. Roleplaying posts are about a single sentence or so long, may or may not be detailed.
Example,
Stacey: The cougar sat on the edge of the cliff, looking over the small island she called home.
Stan: He pads up behind the cougar and sits down a little bit away. "Hello there."
Stacey: "Oh, hello." She meowed looking to the tiger curiously.
Semi-Paragraph- Common style where posts can range from a few sentences or lines. Posts may or may not be detailed.
Example,
The small ginger tabby she cat padded through the forest. Her pelt bristled as a twig snapped from behind and she spun about to face whatever made the sound defensively. "Who are you?" She demanded glaring at the strange cat.
Paragraph- Also referred to story-book form by some people. Each post contains around five sentences. Typically have some details but each post can vary.
Example,
Tokei let out an excited yip as he flailed about in the cool, crisp waters. His green eyes flashed to his mother who was enjoying herself on the bank as he barked out rather squeakily in his pup voice. "Mum! Look what I can do!" After a moment when he was sure her attention was focused on him, he dove under the water. The pups' hind legs kicked through the water as he propelled himself back to the surface and did a little spin in the air. "Did ya' see?" He yipped catching his breath.
Multi-Paragraph- Typically used in literate roleplays on the game and or in forums, also called story-book style at times. Each post consists of multiple paragraphs, sometimes up to five or more depending. Usually has a decent amount of detail as well.
Example,
The small. brown, canine slipped from the moss covered entrance to her underground home. She let out a tiny sneeze as bits of dirt tickled her nose before pulling herself up from the hole. Mis-matched eyes skimmed the area, ears swiveling nervously as she slinked a few paces away. The sky was dark, littered with dancing stars against the pale clouds. The familiar scents of the tainted outside world drifted to her nose which were all to common anymore. Selksi casted a last glance at the neatly covered entrance before padding away.
She stepped around swampy puddles and underbrush as she went, making her way towards the abandoned town. The alphess shouldn't even be out here at this time, her purple markings glowing faintly in the darkness. Any infected creatures lurking about could easily spot her, which made this trip all the more dangerous. The aging brick and stone buildings towered over her, casting eerie shadows along the darkened ground. She was still a moment before shaking out her pelt. The movement was more a habit to try and calm herself rather than remove debris from her fluffy coat, though it failed all the same.
Nervousness bubbled in the pit of her stomach as she slipped around the side of the closest house. Anything could be in one of the silent buildings. An infected could be hiding out behind a couch ready to pounce or an all not too friendly loner looking for an easy meal. Selksi forced the thoughts from her mind. 'No point in scaring myself..' She mused bitterly to herself and pressed on, moving to the front of the house.
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The Do's,
-It's all about detail. Use as much detail as you possibly can. The more details the better.
-Use proper point of view and person when roleplaying
-Be as literate as you most possibly can
-Post more than a few lines
-Wait your turn. If someone is posting and isn't finished, be polite and wait for them.
-Stay close to your characters personality.
-Keep OOC and IC separate
The Don'ts,
-Your character isn't perfect; they don't know everything and have weaknesses
-Absolutely no powerplaying or godmodding
-Don't use Mary-sue/Gary-stu type characters
-We don't like attention grabbers that use drama as such. (such as flailing into camp and dying for attention) Don't do it.
-Do not use knowledge you know out of character in character.
-No auto-hitting, AT ALL
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Terms,
RP- Roleplay
OOC- Out of character, which is rather self-explanatory. When you're talking as yourself and not in roleplay. Typically shown with brackets, parenthesis, etc.
IC- In character, when you're roleplaying as your character(s)
BIC- Simply means back in character. Typically used right after you go OOC for one reason or another.
Powerplay- To control or trying to control other characters actions without permission.
Godmod- Similar to powerplaying where one tries to change the games rules to fit a certain character or situation. Can also mean trying to control other characters.
MarySue & GaryStu- For female and male characters respectfully. It a perfect character, often cliche with little weakness, overly dramatic or perfect past. Also typically perfect at everything.
Literate- Very good roleplayer who uses proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization and so forth. Usually can roleplay up to multiple paragraphs and give great details in posts. Understands how roleplaying works well.
Semi-literate- Someone who is a decent roleplayer and has an 'ok' grasp of grammar, capitalization, spelling and so forth. Typically writes a few lines or paragraph per post.
Illiterate- A terrible roleplayer who isn't highly respected in the roleplay community. They hardly use any grammar, punctuation and so forth. They have a habit of using chat speak excessively, usually new roleplayers.
Autohit- Fairly annoying during a roleplay, though most people let it slip through. Having an attack automatically hit during a roleplay fight or constantly dodging everything.
Metagame- Using information known out of character that a character wouldn't know in character.
Canon- Usually the original characters, plots, story or world in a book, manga, cartoon, videogame, etc.
Fanon- Something that has been used by fans for so long it is generally accepted into the fandom almost as a canon.
NPC- Non player character. A character that's not for any player to play, usually played by a GM for a supporting or background role.
Oneliner- A post consisting of a single line of text
Onexone- A rolepaly that is between only two players together typically controlling multiple characters.
Newbie- A newcomer into a game or roleplay. Usually has little or no experience with roleplaying and often needs help. (Also called a newbie)
N00b- Is a term usually tied with newb used in a derogator sense. Refers to someone with immature behavior and actions. Someone who is generally annoying.
Roleplayer- Any person who joins in a roleplaying game.
Character- (Char, charrie) An entity or person created by a roleplayer or writer. Usually personified with human emotions.
Realistic- Is a rather broad term in the roleplay community, usually dealing with animal roleplays but can apply to others. It's where you roleplay and make characters as closely releated to realism as possible. As in natural colors and markings, no powers or putting wings on creatures that don't have them. Some roleplays are more lenient to the term and allow animals to talk and have emotion, just using it to refer to realistic colorings. Others are more strict, usually only using emotes and actions instead of dialogue.
Semi Realistic- Like realistic, this can vary from person to person. It means the rp is partially accurate and allows a few un-natural things. You'll find un-natural markings and deigns most common here, usually using neutral and natural colors however. Depending on the roleplay un-natural colors may also be allowed (ie: blue, green, etc..) or even light powers and modifications.
Non Realistic- This style gives you the most freedom to do and paly as you wish. Anything under the sun is allowed here, from odd, un-natural pelt colors to powers and even mythical creatures and species. The possibilities are endless, but also can be hard to control.
Traditional- Usually only refers to a roleplay in a set genre or fandom. (ie: warriors, TLK, etc..) It means it follows the same basics and rules as the original and set theme.
Non traditional- A roleplay that is based on another fandom, genre or theme but has its own twists. Like a different set of codes, rules and other various changes compared to the original or most common.
