Post by Lissa on May 14, 2019 22:37:47 GMT -5
Roleplay FAQ
Roleplay can be very daunting to those that aren't familiar with it, but it isn't nearly as scary and confusing as it looks! In this thread I'll take time to try and answer any questions those who are new to roleplaying might have. If none of these explanations answer your questions, please be sure to ask your questions in the replies!
➸ What is roleplay?
Roleplaying in its traditional form is the act of playing as a role/character that is not who you are in real life. A roleplayer will create a character in a world of their choice and do their best to bring that character to life through writing or any other method of RP. These characters are often called OCs, or Original Characters. You can also roleplay as a canon character from an already canon universe. It's much like how an author will create characters for their fictional world and write a novel surrounding them. The main difference is that different people play different characters in roleplay, instead of one author controlling them all. This leads to unique and creative decisions from every roleplayer to create a hivemind story full of everyone's ideas.
➸ How do you roleplay?
For starters, you will need to fill out a character form to create a character (see below for explanation). After that, you have a character and are ready to roleplay! You will write like you are narrating your character through their journey of this fictional world.
Typically, roleplays are written through third-person perspective, but that's entirely up to the roleplay runner to decide.
Each roleplayer will write one reply until others have the opportunity to respond and write their own responses—hopefully interacting with your character! Once you find an opportunity to write again, write another reply. Sometimes other roleplayer's characters are preoccupied and it wouldn't make sense to interact with yours, but that's okay! Try to get into the existing action, create your own, or wait for an opportunity to join in. Don't expect everyone to always come to you, maybe it would make more sense for your character to go to them. Most importantly, have fun, for the roleplay world is your oyster.
➸ How do you fill out character forms?
To fill out a character form, first decide on a roleplay you would like to join. Each roleplay is categorized in individual boards by its genre and has a sub-board section where their character form thread will be listed. You can join as many roleplays as you would like, so go wild!
Once you've found the roleplay's character form thread, the roleplay runner should have supplied a character form to fill out. The fields will be things like name, age, gender, and other fields that fit for the roleplay. This is where the fun part begins—the creation of your character. They can be anyone you want (as long as you follow the site and roleplay rules of course). Simply fill out all their information using the fields provided through the form, and post it on the character sheet thread.
Your beautiful OC has officially been created! Sometimes the roleplay runner will wish to approve of character forms before you can start roleplaying, other times you can start once you submit your form. That rule is up to the roleplay runner! However, they choose to begin, after you submit a character form you now officially have a character in that roleplay world!
➸ What are NPCs?
Sometimes, you may see us admins refer to unofficial characters in the roleplay as NPCs. NPC stands for Non-Player Character, and in the case of roleplay, we use it to refer to characters without official forms that the roleplayer will control for a short amount of time.
For instance, if your character is at a gas station when it's being robbed and the roleplayer wants to write the actions for the cashier, the cashier is an NPC! The cashier has no written backstory, no name (unless you want to give them one), no form, and only exists in the roleplay for a scene or two. Sometimes we'll discuss having an NPC show up to start something in the roleplay, who only exists to start something, and then you'll likely never see them again. If you want to take an NPC to the next level and have them as a reoccurring official character, they will need a form.
➸ How do you make a roleplay?
There are many different ways to create a roleplay, but it's mainly like writing a concept for a novel. Create a world that people could create characters for and have fun existing within. Some even choose to roleplay in worlds from existing canons, like Harry Potter's Hogwarts or Percy Jackson's Camp Half-blood. Whether you wish to make your own world or join your favorite world, it doesn't matter as long as you can be a character and have fun!
For The Atlantis specifically (and it's by no means "the correct way", it's just how we learned) we first start by making a roleplay intro post in the correct genre board. These intro posts are much like a book summary, with an explanation of the plot and what world the characters will be existing in. It supplies all necessary information for roleplayers to understand what world they're jumping in to. If the roleplayer decides to join, they can fill out a character form that's within the connected sub-board (explained above).