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A guide to Role-Playing here on BD
This guide is meant to help those new to Role-Playing start on the right track, as well as people who are just looking to better improve their skills.
- How To Be a Good RPer -
Every good Role-Player is descriptive, knows the terms, and always draws interest to their readers. You should have the willingness to not only read large paragraphs, but also be willing to write large ones yourself. Posts should not consist of only a few lines of text. Saying your character does this, then this, and jumps here is boring and sloppy. You must show compassion in typing your actions out with detail.
Describing your environment:
What your doing when you Role-Play is telling a story from your character. Your building a story with your fellow RPer(s). You must be literate and descriptive at all times, try to paint a picture using words, so your readers can see, feel, smell, hear, and taste what your trying to describe. Although there are some things n your environment you do not need a whole paragraph dedecated to, such as the steam from your character's tea cup. That is boring and a waste of words, unless your character is in an instance where they are focused on that steam, in which case you should be descriptive. Basically, you only put out things that are relevant and have an impact on the RP.
Combat
When your character is confronting and enemy, or another character, it's not so much of who is more powerful. Your character may have a wider range of skills, or perhaps better weapons, but that's the character. When in combat, not only is your character trying to win a battle for their life/competition, but it's also you who is trying to win the battle of descriptively, especially when confronting another character. If your dodging every single attack that's thrown at, that is boring and is considered god-modding. Your character will take damage, that's part of the combat, but your opponent will too. A good way to dodge attacks in a non-god-modd-ish way would be if they only just missed you, or perhaps if there were multiple attacks, the first would hit, and the second would be evaded. Weak attacks, such as punches at you if your character is wearing strong armor can be dodged easily, without making it seem like your god-modding. It is also considered god-modding when you are controlling the other RPer's character, forcing them to be hit, moving them to places, making them say things, etc. On occasions, this is sometimes allowed, but you must have permission from the character's owner to do so. Otherwise, dragging other players around is taking over the roles which the other RPers are supposed to be doing.
Interaction:
When in any Role-Play, your character is bound to have to interact with other people and the environment. Interacting with other people can be especially difficult sometimes, since you and the other character must post consecutively together to have an actual conversation. It is absolutely not recommended for your post to consist of only one line of speech and to wait for a reply from the other. Your character should explain a bit, before looking for a reply. Your post should also have at least some actions in addition to context. It's much easier when talking to non-players because you have the ability to designate what the other end is saying as well, although conversations with other NPCs are usually not all that long, they can really bring the RP to life and make it seem like it's not just you and your fellow RPers walking around the RP.
When interacting with the environment, it your character should be prepared. If your walking around a high security area, have the environment fight back at your character, by perhaps having to sneak past guards or breaking open secret areas that will provide some stealth. Again, you must try to make it seem like your character is making at least some effort in the circumstance. If you're facing a large door that's locked, you shouldn't simply bash through it. have your character analyze the situation, and try to find a solution. Be sure you are also not meta-gaming at all, as this is heavily frowned upon, and will probably get you in trouble by the GM(s).
-Making your own RP - [/center]
Perhaps the hardest part of RPing is making a Role-Play yourself. However, once you get the grasp of what people are expecting you, filling them out won't be too hard of a task. If you have a good story in mind, don't hesitate to make it into a great RP. People may just love it, and you'll be seen as a leader, in a sense. By making a Role-Play, you are showing you know the rules, you are literate, and have a good taste of creativity and description, as well as having the ability to handle such a large role.
Your role as a GM:
As a GM, you are in charge of your RP. It's your job to make sure people are in line, and to keep the story moving. You must know what is good and what is bad in your Role-Play. You also have the ability to make your own rules, as long as they are reasonable. If people are not following them, and are continuing to disobey them, then you have the right to report them to a mod. You have a responsibility to look for these rule-breakers and take action. It's not good form to let bad RPing continue when it's right in front of you. Do note that you are completely welcome to play your own Role-Play, in fact, it helps keep the RP move along and on track.
Setting up your RP:
When typing out your RP, you should have a good story in mind. A good story is the first step in the making of a Role-Play. Just because this is a BD forum, it doesn't mean the story has to be BD related (although it can be if it's good). The story should be interesting. Casual slice-of-life RPs are usually not mainly looked at by RPers, but sometimes they are good for cooling off after a good action RP. Once you have a storyline, describe your environment. The first part of your Role-Play should always state the backstory and environment. Again, RPing is all about being descriptive. You must paint a vivid picture in your reader's minds. Weave exposition into the text, and make the situation obvious but also make it fit.
Role-Plays should also follow along a specific theme. There can be more than one theme, but having your RP jump from one theme to another all the time makes it seem scattered, and also confuses the other people RPing.
Maps and other visuals:
It's common for the first post to have visuals, especially maps. When posting these, make sure they are not too big or unnecessary. Putting a picture for every scene shows that you don't take the time to describe what your trying to show your readers. Maps, however, are completely welcome, and it even helps the RPer know the basic environment of your Role-Play. Putting a visual map is especially recommended if your RP covers a large or complicate area, to ensure none of the other RPers get lost. Maps can either be made by you or can find maps off of google. If your hosting an RP with a Space/Sci-Fi genre, the environment is usually navigable on all three axises. This is an instance where there is usually no map, since navigation of space cannot be mapped in three dimensions. Sometimes skilled graphical artists can map out regions, but only experienced people should do this.
Character Sheets:
If you want your RPers to have an impact on your story, you'll need to set some parameters for them to make their characters. Make sure that you only having them put in relevant information, as well as making sure it fits your theme. The most basic elements of Character Sheets are the Name, Gender, Age, Appearance, Personality, and History/Bio. Sometimes if you think your RPers want to add other things that don't fit in any of your elements, put an Other element, this way people can note additional information that should be noted or distinguished.
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Socialite. Has-been.
No matter how long I have been gone, my heart will lead me back here.
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