The "make a roleplay" tip thread

My tips:
1) Don't make a call of duty: I say this because a role-players do not want to go down a linear pathway only partially interacting and not being able to change events or only be allowed to go to certain areas at certain times.

2: Add variety to the sign ups: if possible don't just put down the basics of name, CM and appearance. If it's based on war add things like rank or weapon/armor description or if it's a simple slice of life ask for an occupation.

3) DON'T keep an Iron grip around the Roleplay when GMing: GM's only are there to enforce the rules and to lay out the story and help it move along. They are not there to say that's not how its supposed to go so change it. Rpers need freedom so let them help dictate the story. Though you still can nudge them in the right direction.

 

1.) Don't whine about overpowered characters.
If every other character except yours is OP, power up your own character instead of complaining about it.

2.) Pay attention to details!
If somebody else's character has been living peacefully in Manehatten for the last five years, don't write about a major disaster that destroyed Manehatten two years ago.

3.) For the love of the gods... PROOFREAD!!!
Small mistakes are to be expected, but at least TRY to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

 

Here's mine:
Tip 1: The "Cause and Effect" Principle: Like Robin said, allow the RP to flow as it should, the GM should not force the RP down a certain path, the GM should instead think of several different outcomes for RPers choosing different things. Make the Rp'ers pay for the bad decisions and reward them for the good choices, not to encourage a certain path, but to have them understand that their choices lead to appropiate outcomes

Tip 2: Keep It Fair: A good GM has to be able to properly determine if an OC is too powerful, or the Rp'er behind the OC is doing things they shouldn't (saying they easily defeated a tough opponent, or even just defeated them, etc). The playing field has to fair and even for all RP'ers, or else you'll disenfranchise them. I'ld much rather lose one person over all my other RP'ers any day.

Tip 3: Set, Define, and Fairly Enforce Your Rules: Pretty self explanitory, for any RP, there needs to be rules appropriate for the RP, and those rules need to be clear cut and well enforced, otherwise there's the possibility of people circumnavigating those rules for their gain, and a GM cannot let bias choose how they enforce those rules. You have to be the same whether the person is your worst enemy or your best friend, you have to treat them the same.

Tip 4: Make a Clearly defined Plot: You need to immerse your RP'ers into the world of your RP so that they feel truly apart of it, which is a must for good RP'ing, so you need to tell your RP'ers everything about the plotline you have in mind, about the setting, the time period, what's there and what's not, etc. The RP itself must be a blank slate, but the world that it's based in and the plotline that it'll run along cannot.

Tip 5: Enforce Good Grammar: I don't know about you guys, but nothing breaks my immersion into an RP more than someone with a post that is unreadable or not understandable from the lack of good grammar. Try to make sure your RP'ers grammar is good so that they can clearly get their point across to everyone else, thus sparing the need for lengthy OOC discussion.

Tip 6: Keep OOC to a Minimum: Nothing breaks an RP's flow up more than OOC discussion, even if it's in its own thread. Try to keep all OOC short and to the point. Tell your RP'ers of rules that they are breaking, answer any questions, etc, and get back to the RP ASAP.

 

Forgot about this one...

Rule Zero:
If you join an RP, STICK WITH IT!!!
I have seen far too many good RPs die because people got bored and moved on to something else.

 

*cough*Eluuna and Pinkly Smooth*cough*

Unless it's supposed to be a dark rp, don't have a dark OC.
Slow down. If your post is only a sentince, don't post.

 

Here's another one.
1) Follow the lore: if making a crossover rp such as a ponified mass effect or Skyrim rp. Stick to the Lore of that universe and ponify it. Even if it has nothing to do with the main storyline of the game/show/movie/book, the Lore is set in stone so use it.

Also this would be good if it was stickied, allows Rper's and GM's to find it easily.

 

I feel like this should be stickied. So it draws more people to it so they can either add their own tips or use the tips when creating their own RP's.

 

I always make sure to keep whoever I rp with satisfied, adapt after their wishes, but don't overdo it.
Don't flop off and do extreme actions ruining either the story or the mood of who you rp with.
Unless your GM'ing, please don't choose the actions of other people's characters.

Read the other posts in this thread, you can learn a thing or two.

 

Right, this seems like a great idea.

1. Unless you intend to not be a permanent fixture or everyone else is, don't be evil. I understand that some people want to play evil characters. That's alright. Occasionally, I want to play an evil character. But unless everyone else in the RP is evil or you intend to not be there for the entire duration, don't be evil. The non-evil characters of the RP will try to end you the second they figure out that you're evil. This remains especially true in RPs where the GM has a plot and a villain in mind. Yes, you have a cool villain, we get it. But the GM already has his or her villain, and doesn't need you to complicate the issue. But if there isn't a villain and the GM allows it, go for it. Just understand that you will not be there for the entire duration of the RP unless the GM ends it with you defeated. But if everyone else is playing an evil character, go for it. In fact, reverse everything I just said if everyone else is evil. A good character with a bunch of evil characters won't last long unless they're being manipulated or they're too stupid to realize that everyone else is evil, at which point it'd actually be pretty funny.

2. Do not kill the characters of other players. I really have to emphasize this. Killing another person's character without their agreement to really sucks. If you're the GM, you can ignore this, but if you're just another player, don't do this. I don't care if it's what your character would do. You aren't roleplaying, you're being a jerk. Though bear in mind, GMs, that killing a character just to kill them also really sucks. If you're gonna kill their character, kill them because they were being idiots and did something stupid, not because you feel some need to kill them because you're the GM.

3. Don't try to change another person's character. This applies to everybody, and especially GMs. Provide them with prompts to develop their character, don't tell them to change their character for the RP. Roleplay with the character if you don't like it to develop the relationship your character would have with such a character and to help them develop that character, don't try and force any kind of change on them using your character as a tool to do so. Yes, the character may be underdeveloped and boring. That's the point of having an RP. Give them a chance to develop that character.

4. Understand that combat in text-based RPs are likely going to suck. Combat in text-based RPs is a messy issue. In my experience, it is the #1 reason why RPs stagnate and die. I have seen so many tips and suggestions concerning combat and making it work, but the thing is, combat is where someone is most likely to do whatever they can to be awesome. The most prevalent rule/tip is "Don't make attacks automatically connect." Sure. Except for the part where the opponent can take that as a way to get out of the attack at all times. They are going to try to do things to be seen as cool, and being hit isn't going to be seen as cool most times. While there are some who would stick with this, it is honor-based, and you are going to get people who ignore it. Honestly, combat in a text-based RP is likely to never work out well for either of the involved parties if it remains in the thread proper.

4a. How can you make combat in a text-based roleplay work without resorting to using an RPG system? Well, my suggestion is to have the two involved players go into a private chat. Use Chatzy or an instant messaging program. Have them fight it out, bare-bones, and then have them come back once they've determined a victor. How would they do so? By using the instant messenger's instantaneousness to keep the fight fair.

1. Make it so that, when you attack, leave it open-ended, but then deliver a second message saying it hits.
2. However, if the one who is being targeted by the attack gets a message in before the attacker can finish their message saying that they block or dodge the attack, then they block or dodge the attack.
3. Make it so that the attacker has to type a 15-word connecting message, and that the defender has to type a 10-word dodge/block message. The reason for the difference in numbers is that the attacker can begin typing the connecting message immediately after the attack, whereas the defender has to read the message and type his or her response.
4. GM, put some control over this. Make it so that one of the participants loses after taking X hits. Don't make it unfair unless the situation established in the RP itself says that the fight would be unfair, like if one of them is already wounded or one is noted as being especially durable. I'd suggest making it between 1 and 5 hits, with 3 being how you should set it at most times.

Do not do this in the thread itself. One, doing it in the thread itself would break rules like "No double posting." Two, doing it in the thread itself would make the fight unfair unless both of them were staring at the thread. Three, it would be messy. Way too messy to justify it.

4b. What about the other players who aren't involved in that fight? That's the beauty of separating it. By keeping the fight separate, you can then tend to the other players and keep them occupied in the main thread while the other two players are dealing with their conflict. As another tip has already mentioned, keep them engaged. If they're all going to be watching the fight, then inform them that they'll have to wait until the fight is done, which shouldn't last longer than thirty minutes. If one of the fighters has to leave in the middle, well, c'est la vie. You can't control that.

4c. What do I do when the fight is finished? How do I inform the other players who wouldn't have been watching the fight or prospective players who are reading the thread and wouldn't be aware of that fight of what happened? Firstly, when it's finished, do not let your players roleplay its aftermath then and there. You were there to get the fight done, not roleplay. In fact, disallow dialogue during the fight. Just have them get the fight done. Next, as to what to do with the events of the fight itself, you have multiple options here. One, you could just post the log up in the thread. Crude and ugly, yes, but it gets the job done and takes the least amount of time. Two, you or the victor could write a synopsis of the fight and post it up. If you do that, don't take too long with it. You're just writing a synopsis, not a novel. Three, have the participants actually roleplay out the fight in the thread, putting more detail as to what happened and what the characters thought during the fight, as well as allowing those who watched the fight to properly react. This is the best option, but it consumes the most time overall as, indeed, the two players would have to take the time to type it all out and put feeling into it, as well as spacing it out if they want others to react.

4d. What if I don't want to use that complicated system to control fights? Then I have to refer you back to 4. Combat requires structure for it to remain fair, and that's the simplest system I could think of.

That's all for now. I hope these help those reading this thread.

 

I have a rule!
A big one that I finally figured out how to put into words.

DO NOT ALLOW TWO PEOPLE TO MAKE SHORT, POINTLESS POSTS IN EXCESS.
This usually happens when two people try to form a romance, or a side-plot. It WILL cause people to leave. It WILL kill the rp. Your posts should be completely relevant to the plot. If they arent, try to make them at least long enough that people have time to reply to them. If they arent that, then don't post more than 4. If you and one other person can fill up and entire page, that should be your cut off point to shut your face-holes.

If you are in some sort of adventure rp, to say... hunt for a big baddy for Celestia. Two characters can have a romantic interest in each other. Two characters cannot have romantic scenes consisting of one sentence posts that takes up an hour of in-rp time. You can have a sub-plot for your character. You cannot go running off because you suddenly want to find a secret artifact that has nothing to do with anything! If you find it by accident, and can explain how in one, maybe two, posts, fine, but the second you get to post three, the villain had better be attacking you to take the artifact before you can!

This crud happens way too damn much, and it agitates me when people are dumbfounded when people leave. "Whats the matter dude? Why are you leaving?" "There are 5 pages of lovey dovey junk. What does this have to do with anything?" etc. etc. etc.