RPG 101
This page is an optional read, and is mainly here to list out the general and unspoken rules of role-playing, rather than any personal ones. Experienced players should already be familiar with them; they’re posted here for the ones who are new to the game.
- Write in third person when role-playing, with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It never hurts to use spell-check.
- If you would like to speak OOC (out-of-character), put up some sort of indication. Most people use double parenthesis “(())” or label their OOC as “OOC:” when posting.
No godmoding/power-playing, meta-playing, or perfect characters (aka. Mary-Sues). (Click the underlined terms to view their definitions.)
Meta-playing. Be impartial when it comes to interacting with other people’s characters. Just because you read someone’s character profile or know additional information about them doesn’t mean that your character knows everything about theirs. Unless your character is some sort of mind-reader, s/he won't know about another character's thoughts and past.
Godmoding/power-playing. You may not control other people’s characters. However, you may control NPCs [non-player characters], provided that they aren’t some sort of exaggerated admirer of your character. Keep it real.
When RPing, keep the reaction time in mind. This means giving other people a chance to react to your character’s words or actions. An example of someone not giving reaction time is “The ferret jumped onto Matt’s hair and bit him.” The person playing Matt didn’t have time to react, as opposed to “The ferret leapt towards Matt, its little teeth aiming for the boy's head,” which would allow Matt’s player enough time to dodge or scream in terror. Of course, reaction time isn’t needed if you’ve discussed things with the other player.
- Something players shouldn't do in a multi-player RPG is center the story around their characters. What makes RP stories different from other stories is that there is no main character...or rather, everyone's a main character. You can't disregard that by focusing only on the characters you like; in RP etiquette, every question asked and every action towards your character should have a reply, be it a cold shoulder or a warm smile. Your character doesn’t have to be nice to everyone, but even if he is ignoring another character, it should be described. An example of this would be:
- When you RP, try to make your character as interactive as possible. If you want someone to respond, do something to get their attention. One of the worse thing I've seen while RPing is when people just walk into a bar, sit, and state that they hope someone will come along and RP with them.
It takes two people to RP, so your part too, instead of putting pressure/expectations on someone else. Even if your character is shy, you can find some way to make someone else interested. Bump into people, drop something, do something that will make them notice. Or, you can just talk. Engage them in conversation, and hope that the other player will be interested. It's okay if the other character just brushes them off. Remember, stuff like that happens in real life too; RPGs shouldn't be an exception. There is no perfect character.
- Use NPCs and Minor Characters when necessary.
NPCs. NPCs (non-player characters), are basically created to support the story. Their roles may vary from the upstairs neighbor, to the waiter at a restaurant, to the woman at the street corner chattering on her cell phone. Whatever the case, NPCs generally come into the RP at some point, and when they do, they may be shared between players.
Minor characters. Unlike NPCs, minor characters are played by one RPer, have a larger role in the story, and are given more depth. They could be somebody’s relative, a teacher, or a friend. Whoever they are, the person playing them may have a set idea in mind of their personality or how they’ll be used to further the story, which is why they aren’t shared.
Player 1: Ryan grinned at the sight of Cain, waving him over to join the gang.
Player 2: Whether he’d noticed the other and was simply ignoring him, or was just too distracted to notice, Cain headed over to Connor to further discuss about the vampire.
As you can see, Player 2 is clearly not ignoring Player 1's post, although Cain might be ignoring Ryan. Something like this is acceptable, as opposed to Cain just walking over to Connor without any reply to Player 1's post, which, even though it follows the general RP rules, is rude and often frowned upon.
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