How to Role Play

[Valiant 96]

How to Role Play

by Valiant

 

Content

• Basics of Role Play
  
• Role Play Standards
  
• Non-Player Characters
  
• God mode
  
• Conclusion

 

Basics of Role Play

 

I will try to explain the basics of role playing. Here are definitions of role play found on the internet.

 

Definition of role play according to www.dictionary.com:

To assume or represent in a drama; act out

 

Definition of role play according to www.wikipedia.org:

A role playing game is a type of game in which the players assume the roles of characters of the story and create narratives.

 

So basically, to role play is to pretend you are the character you created and assume his or her role in the world of Advent Destiny. RP is often used as an abbreviation for role play, which I would be using for the most parts of the guide. RPG is the shorthand for role playing game.

 

There are five types of role playing: Non-literate, Semi-literate, Literate, Advanced and Elite.

 

Non-Literate

Non-Literate role plays have no need for quality posts and are littered with net-speak, improper grammar, actions quotes (*Riva waved to Tom* or ~Tom smiled at Riva~).

An example is:

*runs and owned j00*

Phear me!

 

Semi-Literate

Semi-Literate role plays are slightly better than Non-Literate in terms of grammar, although they still use improper grammar. They use story text instead of action text. Often, they seem to disregard capitalizing the start of sentences.

An example is:

he ran and fighted the dragon. he defeats the beasts and said, "I strongest!"

 

Literate

Literate role plays are the most common types of role plays. They are presented in the form of prose and have proper grammar and spelling. Literate role playing is considered one of the more superior form of role play. Advent Destiny is a Literate role play.

 

Advanced

Advanced role plays are very detailed posts. Their plots are well-planned and they usually post very long entries.

 

Elite

Elite role plays are richly detailed with vivid descriptions very much like those in professional novels. Their posts are extremely long and very well thought out.

 

 

Illiteracy does not breed respect. If you are not a literate writer, make some effort to improve your literacy. You will grow to become a respected role player.

 

Before you can RP, you would need a character. Check the Character Creation guide to help  you with making a character.

 

Once you have your character, you can start to RP! But, before you do, let us go through the standards used on Advent Destiny.

 

 

Role Play Standards

 

In order for everyone RPing on the site to understand you and to keep things uniform, please try to follow the standard formatting guidelines.

 

Out of Character Chatter.

Use OOC (out of character) to denote parts of your post that has nothing to do with the role play. For example, you are RPing with me and you would like to comment on something I said in my previous post:

OOC: That was a good description!

 

Another way of denoting OOC is to use double brackets.

 

((That was a good description!))

 

When you use OOC, please remember to use IC (in character) to let us know that you are back to RPing with your character.

 

In Character Speak.

 

Speech

Speech is denoted using " ". For example, Riva said, "Hello, Tom."

 

Actions

Actions are described and not denoted by *. Denoting actions with action tags are shows that you are not intelligent.

For example:

*Riva waved to Tom.*

~Tom smiled at Riva.~

In Advent Destiny, we prefer to just describe actions. So, instead of *Riva waved to Tom.*

We use Riva waved to Tom.

 

Thoughts

Thoughts should be written in italics to help differentiate the descriptive parts and conversations from the character's thoughts.

 

Use proper spelling and grammar.

Typo errors are acceptable but no l33t or net-speak. Take role playing seriously and use proper spellings. Things like "U" or "r" or "hav" are very irritating and shows that you are not serious about the role play. Bad grammar leads to confusion or even discourage other players from reading your posts. Let us understand you! Proper grammar isn't hard. Pick up a few books and read. The grammar will grow onto you.

 

Making an effort to make sure that there are no typos, no misspellings and no errors would show that you care about your role play. Readers and role players would appreciate the amount of thought you put into your role playing.

 

Stick to third person mode.

Third person mode means narrating the story from a third person's point of view. For example, you are RPing about your character, Tom, smiling to my character, Riva:

Tom smiled at Riva.

 

Wait for your turn.

In an RP involving two characters, it is simple. Character A posts, character B replies, character A replies, character B replies again. When there are more than two characters, it becomes more complicated. Usually, it would be polite to let everyone have a turn before you post again. Be patient. There's no use hurrying through a role play and end up with a lousy story. Take things slowly and plan things out well to produce a fantastic role play.

 

Be realistic.

For example, you cannot waltz into a military base and get out with top secret data. You need the necessary documentations to get you through, or subterfuge that would require great skill to perform. This is not a movie. Do not pull an Ethan Hunt. The more realistic a role play is, the more engaging and interesting it is.

 

 

Multiple Characters

 

You are allowed to have multiple characters. However, you will have to list the characters that you are role playing in your signature and link to their profiles. Please indicate clearly which character you are RPing as in your posts. Some people prefer to add colour to their posts to indicate the characters they are posting as. This would be very useful if you are RPing more than one character in the post. Please try to use a darker colour that can be easily seen if you do so.

 

 

Non-Player Characters

 

NPCs (non-player characters) have a secondary role in the RP and you don't mind if someone else plays the character for a while. For example, your character has a twin brother called Tim. He stays at home while you're out and if someone comes to visit you when you're not home, they could talk to Tim to know where you have gone to or maybe to leave you a message.

 

NPCs created has to have their own profiles with [NPC] prefix for their bio title. If you want to RP as that character, you could talk to the owner of the character and request to RP as that character. If NPCs are taken up by a player, remember to remove the [NPC] prefix.

 

 

God mode

 

God mode is a term that refers to

• player invulnerability
  
• an overpowered character
  
• forcing actions on other characters
  
• disrupting game play with an overpowered character

 

It is impolite to control someone's character without their consent. Be patient and wait for a response from the person, even if it means waiting for a long time. Not everyone has the time to post every day.

 

God moding is an inconsiderate act that disrupts the game play and the harmony between players. We have zero tolerance for God moders. Players should play fair and be considerate to the Advent Destiny community.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Now that you have learnt about the basics of role playing, I wish you good luck and have lots of fun role playing here on Advent Destiny! Some aspects of RPing cannot be taught and those nuances of RPing would only come to you with experience. Enjoy!

 

 

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