tips for good roleplay

[errin]

I thought it would be a good idea, since most of the goals of this site are open play, fun, and synergy, to post some tips and advice to facilitate good RP.

If this looks familiar to you, it's because I completely ripped off Damon, whose ideas for a revival of RP on a past site are 100% in line with my vision for Denver.

• Open RP. Make an effort to put aside old prejudices and presuppositions. Play with people you haven't played with before, or even people you don't like. Play open scenes whenever possible. Drop in on other scenes, and be open to drop-ins on your scenes. Avoid closed, private-room scenes whenever possible.
  
• Related to above: the ultimate goal is to restore a system where people won't feel like they need to invite others into RP, or be invited to join a scene. If you see people playing, just assume it's open and log in!
  
• Conflict. There will be blood. Or at least strong language. Don't take it personally. It's all IC.
  
• Related to above: no OOC complaints. Deal with it IC!
  
• There are no heroes and no villains. Your rivals are NOT the enemy. They're just your hated rivals.
  

And my own offerings:

• Take risks.
  
• Be fearless.
  
• Work together to make a great scene. RP is a group effort between all of us, admins and players alike.
  • Related!: Engage your fellow players. If you've dropped in on a scene that's been going for a bit, pay attention to what's going on already and come up with ways to intrude. Shoulder into the existing discussion, trip over one of the PCs, rock in getting tossed out of a nearby shop. Whatever works for you and for your character to get involved. Don't wait for characters in an already going scene to come to you.

Seriously, I cannot emphasize this enough:

WORK. TOGETHER.

Feel free to add your own advice, or challenge any of mine. And remember these are tips, not guidelines or rules. The important thing is to be happy and have fun playing together.

[Ordinance]

Some thoughts:


- visualize. Being able to consider the scene you're in from the vantage of a first person perspective is important for everyone in the scene. It helps to maintain a strong sense of connection to the scene and give your character something to connect to more than just their own reactions.

Keep all five senses in mind (as well as sense of balance) when writing your responses. Depicting your characters reactions and emotional translation in their body language. Involve portions of the landscape and setting you are playing in and try to develop setting repoire with those in the scene. You're helping to solidify a world not just a character.


- use the supernatural elements. You don't need to have spirals come running out of no where your first post or a lightning bolt battle chewing on the scenery forcing everyone to shout but the details and bits in each of the games helps to solidify the supernatural elements of the scene and setting and can produce some surprising incite into character development given what you're playing.

React to rage, stare at that ashen undead expression, get weird about the pendant swinging fortune teller with the spooky accuracy. Real people react strongly to the unexplained, even monsters.


- forget your a werewolf, vampire, mage, what all. Sometimes it pays to forget you are clued into the fact your character is a werewolf or a vampire. He/she can still do impressive, telling and impossible things but the label can make it seem familiar and disconnecting. Try going a scene without mentioning the names or titles of anything in the system you play in and see how the perspective changes.