[Alias]

Welcome to the Roleplaying Library!

This thread will be a place for instructors to post proper descriptions, of more than one paragraph in length, regarding the concepts and elements to do with roleplaying. This first post houses an index, giving the name and short description of each concept so far posted, and linking to that particular post for ease of navigation.

The Library is available for everyone to browse, but please: if you are not an instructor, PM me anything that you would like to add. I will be sure to give credit where it is due, but would prefer to keep the library neat and organized.

Table of Contents

1. Character Management
   • Character Concept and Design - a guide for creating a well defined and full developed character. Grimarren
   • Personality, Philosophy, and Past - a brief overview of the various facets of the character. FlyingTheRed
   
   
2. Post Content
   • Description - a discussion of the uses for description, with tips for improvement. Tifa
     
   • Clarity and Pacing - posting guidelines which help keep RPs alive. Renkenjutsu
     
   • Sentence Structure - some things to keep in mind to avoid boring sentences. Mickey
     
   • Building Mood Through Preconceptions - a promotion of concise and functional writing. Alias
   
   
3. Roleplay Management
   • Importance of the OOC Topic - a discussion of uses for the OOC topic tied to a roleplay. Rock Splitter
     
   • Making a Roleplay More Appealing – guidelines for making a successful roleplay out of a basic plot. Renkenjutsu
   
   
4. Roleplay Dynamics
   • Hooks and Entry Points - a tool for RP creators to use to give players an easier time joining an RP. Alias
     
   • Metagaming and Advanced Control - an explanation of the meaning and uses of metagaming. Alias
     
   • How Much Should They Know - the give and take of keeping information hidden from, or sharing it with, other players. Alias
   
   
5. World Management
   • Building a Good Foundation - discussion of the importance of history and players in world building. Pseudonymous
     
   • NPC Conversation Topics - discussion of the use of NPCs to flesh out a world. Alias
   
   

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[Rock Splitter]

Roleplay Management - Importance of the OOC Topic - a discussion of uses for the OOC topic tied to a roleplay

As the author of an original Role Play, you will have the greatest influence on the game’s success. Your active participation, leadership, and social skills will be vital. All of which can be learned and improved through study and practice. To that end, I’ve been asked to share with you some of the techniques and practical experience I’ve accrued in my time here on the forum.

Let me start by saying that anyone among you can start their own RP. That’s half the fun of the site, but there is a bit of work involved. In a nutshell, your responsibilities aren’t all that dissimilar from the tasks Hollywood producers are charged with. You create, coordinate, and supervise the conditions that will allow a creative idea to flourish.

All of this begins with the OOC, where you’ll first post your idea for a role play. You don’t necessarily need to have a complete idea of what your RP is going to be about in order to make an OOC thread. Well thought out ideas are sure to attract posters, but the ideas posters can contribute to the development of an RP can be priceless. Though you are entitled to have the final say on all creative decisions, I’ve found it’s fun, rewarding, and just plain courteous to include your posters in brainstorming sessions.

They can build upon your ideas and work with you to take the RP in positive directions you might not have thought up on your own. Always keep in mind that role-playing is a social, and interactive activity. You’re trying to tell a story but it’s not as straightforward as writing a book.

You’re all part of a team, and if you’re going to work well together then there has to be communication between everyone involved. This is another vital function of the OOC and one of your most important tools as the author. You will be able to exchange ideas with your posters and moreover, you will be able to plan with them.

Planning means deciding on and outlining events that need to happen. Kind of a to do list of plot points that are vital to the story you’re trying to tell. Usually, posters use their characters in the IC to communicate their intentions, as is often the case with free form RPs, but it’s important to step into the OOC frequently so both you and other posters have a clear idea of what’s going on and what’s going to happen next. When you keep your posters well informed they will always be able to know what their next move is, and will be fully aware of their importance to the progression of the RP.

All of this adds up to flexibility, and flexibility, perhaps more than any other tool at your disposal, will be able to help you overcome obstacles that can arise to complicate, slow, or endanger the continuation of an RP. These things have a way of happening, but they can be beaten through the kind of group thinking and coordination that all takes place in the OOC. Remember this, and I know you'll do well.
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Much Thanks To cdawgg!

[Alias]

Roleplay Dynamics - Hooks and Entry Points - a tool for RP creators to use to give players an easier time joining an RP.

Many times an RP author will have a spark, yielding a great character, an exotic setting, an ingenious plot. An RP will be created, and, unfortunately, will flop. While there are many reasons for an RP to fail before it gets off the ground, there are some preventative measures that creators should take right in the intro post. One of these measures is the inclusion of hooks for entry points.

Lets start at the end: What is an entry point? When a player creates a character and drops that character into an RP, where ever that character appears is, intuitively, the entry point. The problem with entry points is that not every player can automatically think of a good one. So, no matter how good the ideas behind that RP were, if players can't think of a way to join it, then they wont!

The remedy then, is a hook. While terminology may vary, here a hook is any extra detail included that may foster an entry point. More specifically, it is a detail designed to do just that: a logical conclusion to that detail is the presence of another character, meaning that any player may grab that hook and jump right into the RP.

This might all seem fine and dandy, except when it comes to actually writing hooks, the author's mind goes blank. So, here are some examples of hooks, and the resulting entry points.

Scenario - A boy runs away from the authorities. He now stands at the side of a highway. This scenario is based off a roleplay by WaddleDee.

• Hook - There are cars driving past, but none even slow as they pass him.
  
• Entry Point - Then, to break the pattern, a man pulls his car over to let the boy hitch a ride.
  
  
• Hook - Across the six lane highway is a heavily wooded area. Not far into the woods, there is a faint column of smoke rising.
  
• Entry Point - A hunter has started a fire in preparation for the night.
  
• Entry Point - A woman is preparing dinner in a brick oven in her cabin.
  
  
• Hook - The authorities widen the search, and contact neighboring towns. Officers are dispatched all over the area.
  
• Entry Point - One officer is told to watch for a boy crossing the highway.

As in evident, a hook may have a variety of easy to imagine entry points, or it might serve to spawn some obscure ones. Regardless, the hooks give interested players immediate options of where to join.

It is necessary to note that hooks can be employed by other players as well, but should be kept towards the beginning of a roleplay. If each player drops one or two hooks in their introductions, the desired number of roleplayers will accumulate quickly enough.

It is also possible to use hooks to revive dying roleplays where one or more players have left and their characters were left behind.

To clarify, whoever is using this technique would only write the hook. The entry points are up to the players joining to imagine and employ, should they choose to do so.
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[Grimarren]

Character Management - Character Concept and Design - a guide for creating a well defined and full developed character.

Every book, movie, video game, and role playing game have one major component that makes it’s audience either think “Wow!” or “Ugh…” That component is the feeling of being drawn into and understanding the characters within the storyline. But how are these characters created and why do they have such a strong affect upon the audience, and how does the author create such fantastic characters? There are many ways, but creating a character biography is by far the most popular.

By definition, a character bio is a few paragraphs of text that details the important aspects of a character concept for developmental purposes. The details included are those relating to the character’s appearance, personality, attitude, likes and dislikes, and background. By working to develop details within each of these categories, the author does what is referred to as “fleshing out” who the character is, and why this they are the way they are.

Every character, whether they’re a hero or a villain, needs a motive for why they fill the role they do. For instance, Roland from Steven King’s Gunslinger series is forced into the role of being the story’s hero. He is the last of his kind and seeks to discover what force is making his world deteriorate. Motive plays an important role with any character. Without it, the reader is going to start asking; “Why doesn’t he do this?” and “What is the point of that action?” By determining the motive for how and why the character is important within the story, the author can begin to see and understand how the character will react within various circumstances. Inadvertently, the author has begun to develop the character’s personality and they move from being merely a puppet, to someone that readers can relate to.

During the process of creating a character’s motive, the author will doubtlessly think of events within the character’s past that directly affected who they are now. The author should make sure to write a brief description of every event they can think of that relates to the character’s motive. These short descriptions can come in very handy for creating flashbacks within the story, as well as helpful when creating dialogue. Once again, Steven King’s Roland is a great example of how a character’s background can be used. King uses flashbacks throughout the series to not only better flesh out Roland’s motives, but also for furthering the storyline by introducing characters from Roland’s past that reemerge within the series to interact with Roland.

By this point, the motive has been firmly developed and the character’s personality is beginning to form nicely. The next step for the author is to further define “who” the character is. Every person has preferences and opinions regarding what they like and dislike. While the author cannot think of every possibility, it is important to note those that influence the character’s actions most. For instance, for a knight the ideals of honor and pride are very strong. Having these ideals would cause the character to not want to retreat from a battle as there is little honor in cowardliness. Also, the character may become easily offended by comments regarding certain aspects of their being such as their skills with a sword, or their beliefs and personal heroes. By recording a character’s strongest ideals and opinions, the author gives him/herself something to look back upon when developing the character’s role within the story.

As with real-life, everyone character should have quirks in their personality. This could be anything from a sense of self-righteousness, to being shy. Personality quirks make characters seem more believable and unique to the reader. One example is Hercules’s tendency to rush into a fight without thinking it through before hand. The Hercules of Greek Mythology was depicted as being supernaturally strong, but having a short temper and being bull-headed. He was also depicted as liking alcohol a little more than he should which led him into trouble many times. Every character should have personality quirks as they help the reader to better immerse themselves within the story.

Many people underestimate the importance of how a character appears and is described. Characters should wear what is appropriate to the role they will fill within the story. While it has become common for female warriors in fantasy settings to wear revealing clothing, it is not practical and I personally feel that it gives the story a sense of cheapness. Warrior characters should wear armor and weapons that match their stature. Thieves should wear loose clothing allowing them to hide things upon the being. No matter what role the character represents, they should appear accordingly as to capture the essence of the role they play, the theme of the story, and who they are.

The last topic that a character bio should refer to is the character’s relationships with the story’s other characters. Any reasons for tension, love interests, social compatibility, and opinions regarding teamwork should be noted. This can immensely aid in the writing of dialogue as well as the creation of the long term storyline elements. Events surrounding the character’s relationships with each other are very important with any writing genre and this segment of the character bio will help strengthen the author’s understanding of how they want the characters to interact.

While creating a bio for each of the main and secondary characters within a story may appear time consuming, I assure you it is not. All the information that is recorded within a character bio is probably already in the author’s mind as they begin outlining the events of the story. By writing out the bio, the author forms a more solid concept of who the character is and why the character is important within the storyline. After all, without well developed characters the story’s audience will probably lose interest in what you've written.
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Lead Producer of d20 Modified

[FlyingTheRed]

Character Management - Personality, Philosophy, and Past - a brief overview of the various facets of the character

The Basics - The Three Ps

Alright, you're going to have to bear with me here for a bit. I know the whole '3 whatevers' is ungodly tacky, but it's the best way I've come up with to explain the Character. I'm probably going to tell you a lot of things you already know, but you can never learn something too many times. And, just a quick note—for the sake of ease, I will be referring to the general character in the inclusive masculine. Hope that doesn't offend anyone. Alright, here we go. We'll start with the base. Like it says here, there are three basic things that every character has--Personality, Philosophy, and Past.

Personality is obvious. It's the little things about your character that make him interesting and lively. Personality involves a character's opinion of himself, how he interacts with others, things he's good at, quirks and unique characteristics. Your character's personality is in essence the true face behind your character, so don't be afraid to go too deep.

This is where the real differences in a character are. You can change a person's name, age, looks, history, even the gender, but if there's no change in personality, you're basically just rewrapping the same character. You'll see what I mean as you begin to RP more. If at all possible, try to come up with something slightly different each time you do a role play, even if it means going outside of yourself to write it. Some of the best characters you can write are the ones that are nothing like you at all.

Next, there's Philosophy. Where personality focuses more on the individual as an individual, philosophy looks at the individual as a part of a social world. This is where you get into your character's views on life—what he thinks of humanity as a whole, his thoughts on government, and other such things. If your character is a warrior, I would especially consider what your character believes about honor and about death. If he's a ruler, what's his angle on power? If he's a high school student, well, you get my drift.

Also, this category is where you place your character's goals. I'll go more in depth on goals in the next session.

The third and final topic is Past. Of the three, past is the most self-explanatory. The past is the past, and in this case, it's your character's past. Now, obviously, you don't need to detail every minute facet of your character's life, but there should be several key events in his life that you mention in your bio, and you should probably keep a couple in your head, just for good luck. They make for interesting plot twists. Again, There will be more on how to better use the past in role playing later.

Now, if you think your character needs no editing, please feel free to inform me of this opinion. However, I will probably disagree. There are always tweaks that can be made, and nothing's perfect.

The Importance of Goals and The Past

I promised you that I'd delve into how to utilize goals and past. Well, now is the time when I make good on that one.

We'll start off with goals. Now, you all know what a goal is. A goal is something that you—or in this case, your character—are aiming at. 'The goal at which I have been aiming for so long, my nightly dream, the object of my prayers to heaven,' I believe is how Victor Hugo described it.

Now, the significance of goals is going to depend ultimately on your character. If you've created some slacker who has no ambition to do anything other than skate through life, you probably won't have to worry too much about goals. Don't create characters like that. They're just boring. If your character is not like that, then he's going to have a force that drives him. Something he wants to get done. A secret he wants to bury. A family death he needs to avenge. So on and so forth.

Almost every character has a primary goal, one thing they want to do more than anything else. They may have minor goals that branch off from the main or that are entirely unrelated to the main goal in any way. And they may come across other goals as they advance through the RP. This is normal, and what's more, it's natural. And that is what we're looking for.

I have one final thing for you to consider with goals before we move on to past. This isn't something I'd normally put into a character profile, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind as a contingency plan. We've established that all characters have goals. So, ask yourself this—what happens if your character's goal is suddenly no longer there? Say he achieves his dream, or reaches a point in his life where he realizes that his aim may be unattainable. What then? How would this affect your character? What would they do then? What would drive them on? Would they find something else to do, or would they just give up? Again, not something to actually put down in a profile, but just something to think about.

You're character's past is far and away the single most important factor in defining who your character is and why he is the way he is. I've been told that we are the sum of our experiences, and I absolutely believe that.

When it comes to role playing, think of the past as more or less a series of cause and effect situations. Your character's personality can be directly linked to the events in his past. For example, he hates society because he was harassed as a child. He's a hard worker because he grew up on a commune. He's a womanizer because he saw his father treat his mother like dirt. Or, he's the feminist movement's dream come true because he saw his father treat his mother like dirt. So on and so forth. A little side note—effect is what's important here. Sure, knowing why your character is the way he is is important, but "how he is" means more than "how he got that way."

There are two different types of effects where the past is concerned. To be fair, none of what I am about to tell you is my own. I can say without shame that I have borrowed it from Hedgehog's teachings. Anyway, two types—fast change and slow change.

Fast change is a cause with an immediate effect. The change is rapid, sometimes just shy of instantaneous, and produces a dramatic or violent change in the character. They can usually be traced to singular events, like the deaths of family members or friends, an act of kindness or mercy by a stranger or a foe, a discovery made, a truth uncovered, and the like.

Slow change, as you can guess, is a cause that's less of a cause and more of a situation or an environment. This is a gradual shift in a perspective or behavior that is usually tied to constant exposure to something. Some examples include absorbing the teachings of a mentor, a reaction to a social issue, or an internal conflict the character struggles with. These take place over time, and if you can work them into a role play in the present, you can have some fun.
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Cash in on irony while you've still got the chance...

[Tifa]

Post Content - Description - a discussion of the uses for description, with tips for improvement

Roleplaying is very much an involved experience, requiring a fair amount of attention and commitment from all players. However, it is also a rewarding experience – one that allows its participants to escape away into fantastic worlds and immerse themselves in stories rich with adventure. One of the ingredients contributing to this captivating quality of roleplay is description.

Description is the springboard for character interaction. Solid descriptions provide players with the confidence and opportunities to take action. The more players know, the more they can inject into their posts. Even the smallest detail is capable of helping to spawn an entire tale. Imagine, for instance, that you are playing in a traditional fantasy setting. Your character has happened upon a lake. Different events can take place, depending on the size of the lake. Perhaps your character can do some fishing or go for a swim. Or, if it’s big enough, the lake could be housing a monstrous creature that springs from the depths to engage your character in combat. In this fashion, one seemingly insignificant fact – how big a lake is, in this case – can be used to come up with different scenarios. Thus, a post containing a reasonable amount of description can provide for a wide variety of events.

In addition, description adds flavor to a narrative. Masterfully written descriptions draw the reader in, allowing him to form a better picture of what is happening. In the same manner, good description can minimize the possibility of misunderstandings and contradictions in a roleplay. If Player A provides a well-written description, Player B will know exactly what she has to work with. So, she may not end up writing about something that Player A did not even have in mind. Conflicts are avoided, and time that may well have been spent on dispute is saved.

Of course, the advantages of description will not be fully realized if the writing puts its readers to sleep. The following are some tips for spicing up your description to avoid such a scenario.

• Use your senses. Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch. Think about which senses are involved in whatever you’re writing about. Then take it a step further by drawing up the specifics. What in particular does your character smell? Exactly which sounds can your character hear? Take, for example, the case of your character walking past a store. Perhaps he can hear the music playing in the store, or even snippets of conversation from the customers and employees.
  
• Experiment with sentence structure and word choice. Having a lot of repetition in your narrative is a sure way to make your reader fall asleep. Try to articulate your thoughts in different ways. Don’t be afraid of tools like the thesaurus. Introducing variety into your narrative will make it that much more enjoyable.
  
• Use imagistic language. Things like similes and metaphors will also help to make your narrative more interesting and sophisticated. This is not to say that you should spend a great deal of time pondering over your work, trying to come up with an appropriate figure of speech. But if you do think of something, don’t shy away from using it.
  
• Consider your character’s point of view. Sometimes, you may find it worthwhile to ‘color’ your narrative with your character’s perspective. Not only does it aid in making your narrative less repetitive, it also helps the reader to better understand your character’s personality and thought process. To illustrate, observe the following example:
  
  

  Quote:

  The sun shone down from a cloudless blue sky. It was a perfect day for outdoor activities. Laughter filled the air as the children merrily frolicked about the park. Particularly loud squeals of delight sounded from the swings, where children launched themselves as high as they would go.

  
  
  The above passage offers an objectified view of the situation. It simply states the facts as they are. Now, imagine that your character dislikes being in situations like the one described above. If you weave some of her thoughts into your description, it might look like this instead:
  
  

  Quote:

  The blasted sun shone down from the cloudless blue sky, scorching everything that its rays touched. To add to the discomfort brought on by the temperature, raucous laughter and loud squeals pierced the air, making it impossible to think properly. The area around the swings was particularly noisy, sounding like a barn housing a bunch of wild, finicky animals.

  
  
  The passage is no longer unbiased. From the colored words that have been added to the description, the reader should be able to feel a clear vibe of discontent.
  
• Don’t stress out. Possibly the most obvious piece of advice, yet often the most overlooked. As a reminder, do not try to force a good narrative out of yourself. It’s simply not productive. Get away from the notebook or word processor for a while and wait for the inspiration to come back. Watch a movie. Read a book. Take a walk outside. You’ll often find that, after taking your mind off writing for a bit, you’ll be much more refreshed and ready to tackle the narrative.
  

[Alias]

Roleplay Dynamics - Metagaming and Advanced Control - an explanation of the meaning and uses of metagaming

Metagaming is the act of overreaching the bounds of the character. Past the introduction, given that a player controls only their own character, any changes to environment or plot occur as perceptions of that character. Metagaming, then, is overstepping a character's perceptions and tapping into the knowledge and power of the player. This can either be used correctly, or incorrectly, with an incredibly fine line between the extremes.

Incorrect uses of metagaming are generally deemed Godmoding. Here the player assumes a level of control far above and beyond what the other players have agreed to use. Examples of Godmoding include, but are not limited to, speaking/acting for another character, directly describing the damage (physical or emotional) caused to another character, giving one's own character godlike/super powers without due explanation, acting off of another character's thoughts, matching a character's strengths to another's weaknesses, etc.

Proper metagaming requires a very tight hold on what not to do. For example, it is possible to act on another character's thought, but to do so without godmoding. By giving due explanation of one's own character's perception of another character's personality and body language in a situation, the metagamer's character can discern the basic gist of the thoughts, if they are easily deducible. In this way, the player, who knows the other character's thoughts, hones their character's perception in the right direction, so that their character also gains that information. This is usually done to move along plot, but should not used to gain an unfair advantage in a confrontational situation without proper explanation.

"Leading" is the process of moving the action of a scenario forward by some short interval without explicitly acting out all portions of the scene. It is called "leading" precisely because the "leader" makes some small logical leap forward, thus prompting all other players to make the same leap to arrive at the new point in time. Leading is used to skip over elements like necessary but known dialogue, occurrences which are inexplicable now but can be explained later, etc. It is necessary that all skipped events be mentioned by the leader, and be easy for others to understand how the missed events could have happened.

If the player leading requires that others' character perform in some way that is precedented and natural to their personality, then the leader may imply that those characters did indeed perform in just that, or a similar manner. Note that the leader may only imply that the events were accomplished, not how (in terms of specific dialogue and actions) the other characters accomplished them. The other players would then pick up on the missed events, and fill their own portions in to match the leader's plot.

"Pushing" is akin to leaving breadcrumbs for other players to pick up. While leading is reliant on active metagaming, pushing makes use of passive metagaming. Often times the action of the roleplay might stagnate, or take a turn towards the degenerate. Times like those, but also when a player just wants to develop their character, or introduce the next "act" of the plot, pushing is a non-invasive control technique.

The actual work done to "push" something is akin to "hooking": the player pushing writes a series of details that at the present moment are unused. It is different from hooking in that hooks are open ended details, added to give players a starting point. The details left as a result of pushing are quite the opposite: they are all tied together by a common goal or consequence, whichever goal or consequence the "pusher" intends.

The technique of pushing has some merits and pros over other control techniques. For one, it is non-invasive, meaning that it does not require any direct control of other characters. As well, it leaves the actual work up to other players, while giving them the illusion that they came up with the goal or consequence that results. This garners interests, and makes an RP longer lived.

Passive metagaming may come into play if the pusher describes a new element as "within reach" or "easily observable" by some specific character, prompting them to act on the element. This is passive because the other players do not have to respond. Contrarily, active metagaming, like that used in leading, requires that other players respond with complementary action to fill in the time skip.

Of course, pushing is difficult to pull off correctly. Since the trail of breadcrumb details is only clear in your mind, players might misinterpret the desired consequence, and go off in another direction altogether. Players might also not use all breadcrumb details present. The trail left might be too loose, and thus hard to follow, or it might be too tight and obvious, and consequently boring. However, aside from the last variant, all of the possible outcomes of pushing involve very dynamic play, making pushing worthwhile to try out!

The moral behind metagaming is to find a a comfortable median. Active metagaming is more invasive, but more direct, thus more likely to accomplish what you might see necessary. Passive metagaming is not invasive, but is very indirect, so while other players will not be unhappy, the metagaming is less likely to accomplish the intended task. The level of appropriate metagaming should always be decided by any group of roleplayers collaborating on a roleplay, so that players who wish to make use of advanced control techniques know where their limits lie.
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[renkenjutsu]

Post Content - Clarity and Pacing - posting guidelines which help keep RPs alive

Forum roleplays are very distinct from table-top roleplays, in that everyone contributes to the plot. Though the game may be run by a GM, the overall story is actively influenced by what each player writes into it. So, the content of each post will influence several things for the whole group:

1. The state of the action which the next poster would be using. Saying that the guard falls down in your post and reading the guard jumping up and down in the next post will definitely annoy you and will cause confusion for the next player to post. This might result in a temporary halt to clear things up or rationalize the action.
   
2. Whose turn to post becomes next. Depending on what we do in our post, it might create an opening for some other player that will be ideal for him/her to take advantage of, while other players' character remain incapacitated or simply unfulfilled by others' actions.

Controlling these two influences requires the mastery of two concepts, namely clarity and pacing.

Clarity
What is meant by clarity is that posts are easy to read, understand, and work off of. Clear posts are better than over-described dramatic ones, as clearer posts help more action along and thus help retain player' interest. Not to say that it is wrong to include details in RP posts, but caution should be exercised so that the minutiae will not overshadow the actions and plot devices.

A very effective way to write clearly is by paragraphing. It may seem trivial, but effective paragraphing not only makes each posts easier to read, it also makes it easier for other players to pull the important objects, actions, and thoughts out of each post.

My personal guideline is to make a paragraph for a single action. A kick takes one paragraph (coupled with all the glorious description and dramatization on how the kick was done). Whereas, a kick, then a punch to the stomach, an uppercut , followed by a pile driver and a witty quip to top it off will look very messy in a single long paragraph.

The post could be a little long, but if it is clear and easy to read, then it's worth its length. We are playing a game, not winning a Pulitzer. Clarity will ensure that everyone knows what is happening and it will make it easier for the next post to come up. Frequent posts generally keep an RP active and fun.

Pacing
Pacing refers to the speed in which you can forward the story of the roleplay. This is more of an art rather than science, as there are no set rules on how to pace the game properly. But there is a very important guideline:

• In each post, the game MUST move forward.

Moving the game forward means introducing something new. Each post must prompt for at least one other player to respond. Often, a new NPC, the premise of a new quest, a new action, and even open ended dialogue will all take care of this. But each post must have something new, and cannot be just a response to something that was already introduced. Here is an example:

• Player 1: Meets a group of bandits in the forest.
  
• Player 2: Backtracks a bit, then meets up with player 1, but stops at meeting the bandits as well.
  
• Player 3: Comes from another direction, but stops at the scene where player 1 met the bandits and player 2 joined in.

In 3 posts, the story didn't move an inch. The ending state at the beginning only differs from the ended state at then end by two more players: but the group is still only meeting the bandits. While a plausible situation, it is a break in flow. Rather than moving time forward, time has stopped, allowing for all of the players to meet up and "begin" the action. However, once time stops, someone has to take initiative to start it again, which is not a guarantee in our imperfect world. Instead, say this happens:

• Player 1: Meets a group of bandits in the forest.
  
• Player 2: Backtracks a bit, then meets up with player 1, but bluffs the bandits saying that they are surrounded and they would be wise to lay down their weapons.
  
• Player 3: Comes from another direction, but at the scene where player 1 meets the bandits and player 2 joining in, he can roleplay for the NPC bandits and "speak" with player 2, giving his own character time to knock and arrow and shoot it, perhaps as an open action.

The scenario is the same, with three players all meeting a group of bandits, but with a distinctive progression of events in each post in this second example. This keeps the story moving and prompts players to post the next bit of action.

However, it is necessary to be cautious and not move the game too far in a single post. Unwarranted time hops will make other players miss out on the action and will reduce their involvement in the game. In the bandit example above, Player 1 could have jumped through the entire bandit encounter on his own, but introducing the bandits only to "remove" them without other players' input would have been not only selfish, but most likely useless.

The best method of pacing is to move the action just enough along to create an opening for another player to exploit. Don't be greedy or too heroic. Even falling down while fighting can be a good opportunity for another player's character to interact with yours. And that is always good in a game.

Good pacing means good involvement from the other players. And like clarity, pacing will yield a higher chance of more frequent posts for and more active involvement from everyone.

Happy playing!
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Games playing:
No More Heroes
Child of the Western Traders
Athena's Plea

[Mickey]

Post Content - Sentence Structure - some things to keep in mind to avoid boring sentences

Sentence Length
Sentence length is important, to make your work less repetitive, and you can also use it to capture certain moods in your writing: for example, short, sharp sentences can capture a feel of breathlessness and haste.

When necessary, sentence length can be increased by using connectives. Connectives are just small words added in that can be used to link two sentences together - 'and' is the most common, but you will find using others makes your work more interesting and detailed. Alternatively, they can be thrown in just about anywhere, for some added description.

You will almost certainly need to change the word order, or add another words in for it to make sense - usually, you will need to make a verb an infinitive (jump > 'to jump') or into a participle (jump > 'jumping'). Just think about it, and you'll find there will be some way of putting it:

"Mickey wrote something for the Roleplaying Library. He investigated his work before submitting it."
"Mickey wrote something for the Roleplaying Library, slowly investigating his work before submitting it."

"Mickey looked up from the cave's depths. Sand was pouring in at an alarming rate."
"Mickey looked up from the cave's depths , to see sand pouring in at an alarming rate."

In most cases, the second sentence becomes a dependent clause. This means that it cannot function grammatically as a sentence because it has no verb or subject (usually a verb in this case) - and is there only to serve as description.
The first sentence becomes an independent clauses, meaning it can function grammatically on its own, containing both a subject and a verb. Sometimes, the independent clause can be the second part of the sentence and the dependent clause can be the first, but this is unusual with connectives.

Sentence length can be boosted by sticking words on the anywhere in a single sentence. These are often adverbs of time, such as 'gradually', 'eventually' or 'suddenly', or participles like 'hitting', 'insisting', or 'crying' (participles might require an object, too).

"Mickey finished his piece for the Roleplaying Library."
"Mickey eventually finished his piece for the Roleplaying Library, chewing on his pencil."

Pronouns

"Mickey sat down. Then Mickey ate an apple. Mickey then felt the need to gouge his eyes out with chopsticks, because Mickey's name has got so repetitive."
A pronoun is a noun that only applies in context: examples are 'he', 'she', 'it', and then, things like 'the boy', 'the twenty year-old' or 'the blonde'. Obviously, there are thousands of possibilities.

Why use them? Because using the same word - particularly a name - often will make your work sound incredibly boring. I dislike using a name more than once a paragraph, and I try to avoid using other nouns more than twice per paragraph.

Though nouns are the main culprit, verbs and adjectives can be overused as well. Try to find synonyms (words that mean the same thing) instead of recycling the word.
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Jesus loves Chrissicakes.

[renkenjutsu]

Roleplay Management - Making a Roleplay More Appealing – guidelines for making a successful roleplay out of a basic plot

So you want to make a game? Awesome! A game can be easily made, but it won't necessarily work or garner interest. So what can you do? How do you make a game that pops out and make people go, "That's cool, I want a piece of that action!" Well, here are a few guidelines to start off:

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1. Give it a descriptive OOC title.
   Every game starts with the OOC thread. Prospective players will click on the title that piques their interest and then read it to decide whether it's worth their time to join in or not.
   
   But here's the thing: people won't be reading the game description first. They will be reading the OOC title first. So your OOC title better be a clear picture of what your game's going to be about. And it wouldn't hurt to let your title have a businessman pitch feel to it either. And the advantage of this is? People with interest in that genre will zoom into that OOC first before reading other potential game threads. The first impression is always the most important one.
   
   Note: Your OOC title and your IC game title need not be similar.
   
   Examples of catchy titles:
   • Treasure hunting rp in the Mayan ruins! OOC
     
   • Fantasy rp featuring summoners OOC
     
   • Space truckers! (with alien pit stops) Inquire inside ;] OOC
   
   Examples of not so good titles:
   • New game! OOC
     
   • Fishing interest on a new game OOC
     
   • *Ashcroft's Demise (specific rp title) OOC
     
   
   *Note: Wait a minute...a game title is a bad OOC title? Eh????? Well...yes and no...No one can tell what the game will be about at first glance. So this might have people looking at your thread and it might not. So it's a hit and miss kind of thing.
   
   

   ---

   
   
2. Describe your game as simply and as completely as you can in your first post.
   Okay, so you got people to click on your title because they thought it would be interesting. Now people will read and decide whether it's worth their time or not. Your first post as game creator will always be the most important one. It will reflect your enthusiasm, your eagerness in making the game in the first place. No one wants to read this:
   
   "So uhhh... I'm making this game which I don't know what it'll be about yet. So I need feedback on making one."
   
   Huh?
   
   If you're not ready to create a game, DON'T. People will be put off by that statement (or similar) because it shows that you're not serious about your own game. People don't want to devote their time and creative energy to a game that the creator will leave simply because he/she is bored. It's worse if that person creates another game, because it'll leave a bad impression.
   
   But if you say this:
   
   "I have an idea for a treasure hunting game, a la Indiana Jones. It's set in the current timeline and it'll be about exploring the tomb of a forgotten pharaoh in Egypt. There will be another treasure hunting group to thwart the players along the way for some rivalry action."
   
   It's not a long post, but everything that you want to include in the game is there. After this, you may proceed by asking for feedback on the possible specific settings of the game (Will the group be freelance treasure hunters? Or part of a university research team?). This will not only reflect your enthusiasm about the game, it'll also assure the players that they're going to have fun.
   
   

   ---

   
   
3. Know your limits. How many players?
   You should keep in mind how many players you can take in without burdening yourself with keeping up. In general, a group of 3-4 players is small but manageable. 5-6 is medium. 7-8 or more is large. Keep in mind that the more players you have, the more that you have to rely on other people to advance the game or the game will be very slow if everyone describes the same situation in their own words (see my library entry on "Clarity and Pacing"). But large groups are always fun to play with! :]
   
   

   ---

   
   
4. Don't make it into a never-ending story. Have an ending in mind.
   A memorable game is the one that has an ending. Plan a few key encounters beforehand and play them out. I would suggest 3-5. Don't put in so much! Each encounter would take some time to finish, and then there'll be downtime for the characters to catch their breath before beginning a new one.
   
   Don't introduce wave after wave of encounters just because you feel like it. Let the game end. A complete game always has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And people will remember complete games and everyone that they play with.
   
   P.S. I will bear no responsibilities if it'll create a sequel game. :] Which is always awesome.

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So there you go. Four general guidelines on how to attract players to your game and for everyone to have a good time when they do. Hope you guys have a great time creating a game as well as playing in one. The effort is well worth it in the end.

Have fun!
_________________
Games playing:
No More Heroes
Child of the Western Traders
Athena's Plea

[Alias]

Roleplay Dynamics - How Much Should They Know - the give and take of keeping information hidden from, or sharing it with other players.

Whether you create or you participate in an RP, there may be certain facts, concepts, plot points, etc, all of you know and plan to employ, but no one else knows. These things known only to you I will describe as the Private Sector. On the other hand are details which are shared with the other players, whether through the OOC, IC dialogue or thought, or IC description, and thus part of the Public Sector.

But the big question is, for each detail, where should it go? Should it stay hidden for now, until it is necessary, and thus be private, or should it be divulged and thus made public? There is no overarching answer, as each detail is different, each RP is different, and every group of roleplayers is different. This discussion will focus on a process that can be helpful in deciding what to do with a particular detail. Or rather, what will revealing a detail do.

First, when revealing a detail, there must be a reason, and thus something to be gained. Rather than going for it, take a step back. What can be gained from revealing this little bit of information? It might be a bit of secret biography about your character, or a plot point you have in mind that you haven't gotten to yet. By letting this bit be known, what benefits can you or your RP profit from? Will this detail guide fellow roleplayers in your intended direction? Will the new revelation give players a burst of interest and get the RP back on its feet? There are much more pointed questions, much better defined benefits for any particular detail, which might cement your decision.

But, where something is gained, something else is lost. Every time you fill a hole with a detail, you prevent someone else from doing it. A roleplay is a joint story being told, and everyone wants to tell it. If you reveal this detail prematurely, you add constraints. Will players become frustrated? Will this detail counter any development they might have been trying to foster? Knowing what you lose is just as important as what you gain.

Most importantly, you must consider the risks of either revealing something or keeping it hidden. If you reveal the necessary details one by one, and not all together, than there is always the risk that someone else will contradict the next private detail of yours in line. Would you be able to work around it? Would it completely ruin your character, or destroy your planned plot? If yes, would you be able to bounce back? How flexible are your ideas? If they are rigid and linear, then revealing the private sector is a security measure. Everyone knows what will happen, but they have to play out how happens. Or if your ideas are vague or so far removed that they would work in almost any situation, revealing them now might remove the excitement they might cause later. Maybe saving those kinds of details until the right moment is key. Always guess at how much your ideas can suffer from the actions of someone else, and always judge your decision to divulge them on your own ability to adapt to changes.
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[Pseudonymous]

World Management - Building a Good Foundation - discussion of the importance of history and players in world building.

When building a world, you need to keep a few things in mind. The first being that though you may know how you want your story to end, this should be a player guided story. The future is not up to you, it belongs to the characters who drive the RP. You should keep an ultimate goal mind; goals are essential to the progression of a storyline, but they don't always become reality. The key is to make sure everyone who needs to be is made aware of your proposed ending. Use an OOC thread or PMs with vital players to guide the story towards its ultimate conclusion. The fewer who know the ultimate goal the better in my own humble opinion, it makes for a better story when the conclusion is reached naturally rather than by metagame meddling. However, when you create a world, you must realize other people will be living in it, shaping it and changing it with their actions. Plan for this and leave the future open to change.

Secondly, you will need to decide on the scale of the action for the story. Are you dealing with individuals, a small group, an army, a nation? What kind and how much influence will the characters have in this world? Whatever the scale, giving your players a map, a historical time line of the world (noting major political, religious, and cultural events), and a brief overview of the level of technology, geography, demographics, flora, and fauna of the land they will be living in will allow the players to develop deep, colorful characters that fit seamlessly into the world in which they live. Remember the more comprehensive the description, the more materiel they will have to build their characters from.

Then having provided them a world, scale and history, you need to give your players an overview of the current state of events i.e. who is allied with whom, which countries are at war and why? Etc… Give them a solid foundation upon which to build their characters. When building the history of the world, consider what factors brought about the current state of events? Why would people care about what is happening now and how does it affect them personally? What would bring them into a position to affect the world you have created? You absolutely must embed hooks into the history of your world so people have somewhere to insert themselves.

Once you have a world's past and present worked out, post it in an OOC thread or as the thread opener. The hard part is over. Your work is by no means done, but now the people who have joined you become the storytellers. Now they will determine the course of history. The story is no longer just yours, others will control as much of it as you: let them. Don't hesitate to use an OOC thread, be careful though not to let it become the driving force behind the story it will only weaken it. Use the thread to keep the other players informed of what you have planned, and where you would like the RP to end up. Keep in mind though that even though you came up with the story, it is no longer just yours. Don't be afraid to "push" the story if it becomes necessary, but avoid leading, godmoding or other meta-game tactics to guide your world. The more you leave to your players the more naturally the story will flow.

This post was brought to you by:
The number 13
The letter R
And Killian's Irish Red
_________________
Light a man a fire and you'll keep him warm for a night. Light a man on fire and you'll keep him warm for the rest of his life.

[Alias]

Post Content - Building Mood Through Preconceptions. A promotion of concise and functional writing.

I find the majority of writers dichotomized into two groups, neither of which produces ideal works, in my subjective opinion. I generally class myself to the second group, but am aiming for the idyllic middle ground. The first group are the minimalists: not only do they not avoid adverbs but they also cut adjectives, simplify actions, reduce nouns, and produce very skeletal projects. The finished works are functional, yes, but very dry. An entire book in this style is horribly boring to read through, and roleplay posts, while shorter, are often too short, lacking, and interesting. To escape this minimalism, many other writers go too far, and fall into the second group: fluffers. Nouns are padded with strings of adjectives, adjectives and verbs are modified by adverbs, active sentences are cushioned by passive ones, and the result is so fat that is has lost all semblance to a dog and looks more like the inside of a pillow. The second group also over-extends metaphors

One problem with finding the middle ground is determining what is "bad" from the second group. The minimalists pretty much set the lower bound, but how fluffy is too fluffy? A generally accepted rule, according to such books as Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is functionality. Every action, every adjective, every description, all need to either serve some purpose now, or in the case of roleplaying need to be usable for some purpose later. Of course, noticing that there are mountains behind the lake might have little significance to your character in a roleplay, but another player might make use of them and direct the action right up their slopes. However, taking the time to describe the particular colors of the rising peaks, the contours of the snow coverage, or even the random orientation of caves is a step into the fluff: the other players who plan to make use of those elements can just as easily describe them on their time. In solo works, if those details aren't on the agenda, don't toss them in. Another good rule for minimizing local fluff is to reduce the quantity of "ly" adverbs within any piece. any "ly" adverb modified verb can be replaced by a more applicable and descriptive verb. "Gently touching" can be replaced with "caressing", "lightly laughing" can be replaced with "giggling", "jumping forcefully" is easily swapped out for "leaping" or even "lunging", depending on direction.

I have found that the best way to convey information while giving a good image of the scene is by writing out the mood associated with the actions, while allowing for each reader to see the scene with their own details. Any details left out will be filled in by the readers' imaginations, each one differently, based on their general preconceptions of the detail at hand and the scene surrounding that detail. This allows for the reader to do much of the work describing static elements, giving the author the freedom to describe only the necessary and relevant dynamic ones.

Over the course of some of my attempts at teaching the arts of roleplaying I've developed a bare-bones process to take bare-bones actions and get them to a healthier "fleshed out" middle ground. I've since modified the process, but it is important to realize that I am working from the bottom up (rather than cutting from the top down). This can be applied to any piece of creative writing, but I will be describing it for a single roleplaying post. Most pieces of writing can be broken up into scenes or even parts of scenes.

1. Set a goal. Some writers write first, and their goal comes to them, while others brainstorm to get to the goal. The brainstormers will have an easy task: simply come up with the end result for this particular snippet of writing. Stream of consciousness writers, at least those who decide to make use of this process, might need to write a draft (which will then be tossed out, unfortunately), and will use that draft to develop their goal.
   
   
2. Take several steps from start to finish. The previous post or the previous scene set the starting point for this scene, and you have just determined a goal, which is the end to this post or scene. Now write out several actions, in the "bare-bones" manner, which will bring the situation from the starting state to the ending state. Play around with the actions, develop and order, determine the actors (your played character, any non-played characters, or even the environment).
   
   
3. Get some context to smooth those actions out. Your actions are steps, but writing should flow. So, those actions need to get modified and where appropriate, those jumps need to become lunges. To do this, imagine the scene (Durr, right? Bear with me.). Imagine what is happening, and imagine it first from the point of view of the omniscient author. You know all, you see all, you know what is playing out and how. Now imagine it from the point of view of the actors: what do they see and how do they feel about the actions, and how do their perspectives differ from yours? Now imagine yourself an audience member, watching the action unfold. You don't yet know the goal, so how is the action making you feel at each checkpoint? Imagine yourself another player's character, seeing it all happen. Most likely, that is who you are writing for.
   
   
4. Smooth and refine the surface. The imagination exercise gave you more than just one perspective on your own scene, and it is up to you to determine whose perspective you adapt it to. If the scene is meant to change the mind of another player's character, include those details which might, based on that character's personality, influence him or her. If the scene is meant to instill awe or inspiration, or to simply give some background on your character, describe from the point of view of an audience member (or omniscient author), focusing on those facets that you want associated with your character's personality.

Example:

[Alias]

World Management - NPC Conversation Topics. A discussion of the use of NPCs to flesh out a world.

There are various ways to create a World. In most novels, the world is narrow, detailed like a corridor through which the storyline paths. And yet, many of us have read Tolkien, or Brust, or scores of other authors who persist with the same world. We as forum roleplayers seek to create worlds post-by-post, thread-by-thread. We gather several friends, toss together enough information to have a setting, drop a character each into the fray, create a bit of history, and starting moving forwards and outwards.

Let me first caution you, from my own experience: stick to a single time period, and only move forward. I have partaken in a world so fluidly created that we moved back and forth through history (at the same time) days, months, decades, centuries, millenia. We created three concurrent planes of existence, at least four ranks of beings, and five times as many characters as we had players. Had we need one person, this would have prospered and grown. Unfortunately, there were too many nuances to keep track of in space and in time. At some point, any world will become too thick for many players to keep it free of contradictions.

Let us say that you seek to create a world, and start with a continent, a town, a day, and some characters. You are a group of perhaps ten avid writers, all looking to participate, all with equal pull as to which direction their world moves in. One way to go about it is to write, each creating lore, writing quests, beasts, enemies, events, and more of the like. STOP. Do not do this. You are not the lone writer, the Tolkein who has free reign of his domain. Passive Writing, where your work is simply added to that of your fellows, is a killer of worlds. Your work does not engage your fellows, nor are they necessitated to read it, given that they too are people, with lives, with limited time, and are currently busy with their own Passive Writing. In analogy, if all of you start bricking out a building from different places with no rules as to how your bricks should be stacked, your building will either have many holes, several clashes between builders, or no structural integrity if you all manage to still come together.

I prescribe Active Roleplaying.

We are all used to in-character topics where we all throw together our PCs and write NPCs in as we need them. This is, of course, Active Roleplaying, as it requires your fellow players to take heed of your character’s actions, and of any world-fleshing information you include among those actions. But how many times can you ‘Kill the Were Bear’ or ‘Save the Princess’ or ‘Recover the Golden Goblet’ before you and your fellows are bored and want to move on to another world, or maybe their girlfriends? Active Roleplaying doesn’t always have to be quests, and most importantly doesn’t always have to involve PCs.

One mode of Active Roleplaying that involves only NPCs is what I call Conversation Topics. There is little description (of the scenery, at least) and there is almost no action (apart from “stood” or “sat”). If your world was Rome, there could be a Conversation Topic at the Forum or at the Senate. If you were following Aladdin in Agrabah, a good place for a Conversation Topic might be the local bazaar. In Alexandria, the Lighthouse Library would serve well. In the small town of Sleepy Grove a perfect Conversation Topic would be the Town Hall Meeting. In a college setting, an engaging discussion class would work. Given a corporation, a meeting of the Board of Directors. At a high school, the PTA meeting. In a Fraternity, a Regional or National Conference. Etc. For any setting except for the travels of a quest, there is likely some location where several NPCs are likely to meet.

Use them. Rather than starting off with the “Slay the Dragon” quest, take to the town hall, where all sorts of mundane and otherwise matters are likely to be discussed. One man will whine about someone’s urine on his white fence. Another will comment about how ugly that white fence is anyway. If nothing else, it is a place to create a one-time or even recurring character with a personality that you want to test out. It also sets the mood to have Gerta, mother of three, bust through the doors yelling and screaming about bandits who kidnapped her son and demand the town’s harvest for his safe return, where failure to comply will involve taking the grain by force anyway. Now you have a quest to work with, with a proper setup. Your fellows were playing equally useless townsmen until this quest came about, but now all know about it. When they go to the new topic you’ve created for the quest they wont be surprised: they will be ready, eager, and thinking of what their NPC will say when the heroes come back.

NPC Conversation topics can be revisited over and over again, or can be abandoned with no loss and no harm done. They give players a chance to stay active in the world between quests, while at the same time serving as spawning point for quests. As the world grows, they become perfect starting points for players new to the world. Most importantly, they give all of the players a chance to practice roleplaying with little consequence - a rowdy townsman can always be bounced out of the meeting, while a boring senator can always just stop talking. And if the annoying teacher gets hit by a car, well, not only was that a good solution to a failed experiment, but it also spawned a murder mystery that a bunch of dumb kids are likely to investigate.

Concept examples from Pseudosyne's invocation of Frenelia, in Isis:
Town Hall of Mugath
Nether Archives
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