- Admin.
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Gerald Duval's Abraisive Guide to Battle RP's
In this guide I'm going to say some things, especially about weapons and the mindset of soldiers some might find silly, controversial or downright wrong. However, this guide is not the place, and neither was it intended, to hash up old pointless arguments like can an arrow really pierce chain mail, the effectiveness of a cavalry charge, etc. If you have a very strong opinion about that kind of stuff, PM me, I love history arguments. Now, onto the guide.
The Golden Rule
***Soldiers are normal people, and normal people don't want to die!***
If you only read one thing in this whole guide, It should be this. Your men are not mindless killing machines, they are brothers, fathers, sons, shopkeepers, clerks, farmers, coopers and the occasional gentry. Just like it's hard to imagine your local barber or your cousin to go off and start hacking through orcs left and right, its hard for your men to do as well. Like everyone they are goverend by rules like fear, hunger, fatigue, hope, thirst, desire etc., etc.. Your army should be as much of a living, breathing, complex character as your generals or knights.
Before the battle
Equipment - When you create your army and start to describe what type of equipment they wear, think long and hard about the environment. Campaigning though Skyrim? Furs and heavy blankets might be a good idea. Wandering around the Alik'r? Probably could lose some of that hot armor. Now, part 2. Yea, it'd be awesome if you had a whole army equipped in enchanted ebony armor with claymores, bows and silver poisoned arrows. Imagine though how much that would cost to outfit a couple thousand guys. My wallet aches just thinking about it. Rare armor is rare for a reason. Give the bulk of your men normal kit.
On the march - Human beings are reasonably sensible. Time and again simple soldiers prove that an army on campaign is an army that can travel light. During Sherman's grand march through Georgia (God save the Union 
) one of his bummers was kind enough to keep a good diary. In it he explained that he cut his blanket in half to save some weight. Now just stop and think about that for a second. If a pound and a half of extra blanket is that burdensome to merit chopping it in half, do you really thing your TES army feels like carrying around a pike, a longsword, and a shield and a crossbow on top of a suit of dwemer? Not likely. This brings me to another good point. Tents. Forget everything you've ever seen at a reenactment or in the movies. Big tents are heavy, difficult to dry and way to much effort to set up. Sure a general or a lord knight will get a spiffy tent, but by and large the PBI (Poor bloody infantry) will have to make due with shelter halves or even nothing at all.
) one of his bummers was kind enough to keep a good diary. In it he explained that he cut his blanket in half to save some weight. Now just stop and think about that for a second. If a pound and a half of extra blanket is that burdensome to merit chopping it in half, do you really thing your TES army feels like carrying around a pike, a longsword, and a shield and a crossbow on top of a suit of dwemer? Not likely. This brings me to another good point. Tents. Forget everything you've ever seen at a reenactment or in the movies. Big tents are heavy, difficult to dry and way to much effort to set up. Sure a general or a lord knight will get a spiffy tent, but by and large the PBI (Poor bloody infantry) will have to make due with shelter halves or even nothing at all.Baggage - again, not the glorious thing that makes for a good movie or dramatic painting, but still vital. If you are going to carry around food, and tents and ammunition, and the inevitably necessary medical supplies, it has to be carried somewhere. The army is usually followed by a long line of carts, mules, spare horses, wagons, camp followers, sutlers, etc. This baggage train will also contain your vital pay chests that allow you to keep such a large army together. To lose your baggage train is basically the death knell of your campaign, no food, no supplies no money. It's not impossible to campaign without a baggage train, but it puts a huge strain on your men.
Rough terrain - ever read a history book and been amazed how simple things always prove the biggest problem? The English army was nearly trapped in France during the Agincourt campaign because of a river. The French army at the same battle were massacred because a muddy field made it hard to ride horses. The Takeda army was destroyed by the Oda at Nagashino because of a bamboo fence. The Army of the Potomac was decimated at Fredericksburg because of a hill and a wall. Get the point? What is easy for one person to get by, alone is next to impossible for an army of thousands. This goes for forests, rivers, swamps, thick undergrowth, sand, mud, etc. There is a reason why battles are usually fought in big open fields and why armies like to march on roads.
Mobilizing - Hurry up and wait. Anyone who has ever been in the army or worked with an army knows exactly what I'm talking about. If you want your men lined up, ready to march at 7am, you've got to wake them up at 4 or 5. It takes time to gather people and get them ready to fight. Ideally you'll know there's a battle soon, and they can prepare the night before.
Basic needs - Food, water, shelter. Without your army will be in some serious trouble. I really hope I don't have to say much on this.
The Battle
Taking casualties - please be fair in this. It is my own personal belief that the more willing you are to take damage, the more willing other RPers will be to receive yours. So do take casualties, and do it in abundance. Now the general rule for how casualties work in real life is a 1:4 ratio. That is, one man dead for every four injured. It fluctuates through time, sometimes being higher, sometimes lower, but 1:4 is a good mid-line ratio. There should be far more hurt people than dead people. This can have a serious effect especially when you take into account that for every wounded man, there is at least 2 others caring for him.
Hurting the enemy - Character control is an easy thing to distinguish. Army control (?) is a bit hazier. There is a dangerous grey area as to what is acceptable to say about the enemy army. Tread lightly. IMHO it's ok to say you kill a single soldier in your post. It's less so to say you're hacking left and right, loping off arms and legs and killing scores. It's absolutely bad and verboten to say things like, "My men were carving their way through the enemy center" or "for every one of my man that died, I killed three of theirs". just like for a one on one fight RP, it's enough to say we aimed and fired, or the men were fighting like this HOPING to kill twice as many." Ideally you should PM the person your fighting and work it out in the background.
Surrendering (the S word) - People in the army are just that, people (or elves, or beasts) and with a few exceptions, you should see the golden rule. If you are in a hopeless fight, try surrendering. I guarantee that your opponent will be surprised. At the very least this will give him a headache as he now has to care for you and your men. It also brings up an excellent chance to interact with the other side. Surrendering is not dishonorable or cowardly, it is a normal part of a military on campaign. In the middle ages, it was commonplace for knights to surrender (or in their terms, yield) because of the golden rule; that was the whole point of fighting. If you got lucky, you captured someone rich, and ransomed them away. One good prisoner and you won ye olde lottery.
Prisoners - Unlike the movies, spitting in the face of your captor is probably not a good idea. If you ever get the chance to read a published diary, you'll understand how terrifying the experience is. You are at the complete mercy of whoever captured you. Outright defiance is akin to hanging a bright neon please kill me sign around your neck (see golden rule). You want to be defiant? Keep your dignity, have your men march better than the enemy. Parade your captured soldiers as if they were the emperors personal guard on coronation day. Don't do anything that could be taken as outright defiance or rebellion.
Last Stands - Don't, just don't. They are so common in war Rps, that its a clich� now. The gallant last stand, where the men fall, facing the enemy, valiant to the last are touching and noble deeds in real life, but they are very, very rare. Forgive me for sounding like a snob, but leave heroics to real heroes.
Withdrawing - There is nothing wrong with pulling back. Let me repeat that, there is nothing wrong with pulling back. Out numbered? In a bad position? Leave, simple as that. Why stay and fight if you have no hope of winning? See golden rule if it's still unclear.
Withdrawing in the face of the enemy - Difficult, extremely difficult. This is right up there with having an army march on two different roads and come back together as the most difficult military maneuver. A withdrawal can VERY EASILY become a break, or rout. Imagine being there, under constant attack, scared tired and thirsty. You're going backwards anyway, why not just run to safety? Please see the golden rule.
Breaking/routing - like surrendering, this is rarely seen in War Rps, and like surrendering, this is much more common in real life than we'd imagine. There is a difference between cowardice and panic. Think of the Spartans. History's most [censored] badasses right? "This is Spartaaaaaa" and all. They even broke, ran terrified from two hundred [censored] couples (Theban sacred band, IMHO, one of the best fighting units in history). Go on Wikipedia and look up Leuctra, battle of. Does that change anyone's opinion of their fighting ability? No. Everyone has a breaking point, some are higher than others, but it's still there. If you are pressed hard on two sides and under a constant and heavy missile/spell fire, chances are your guys would prefer to get the hell out of there rather than wait to die. Again, see golden rule, and last stands.
Reforming - Complete and utter routs do happen, where men scatter like grass in the wind, never to come back. More often than not, though, soldiers will break and run in panic, but after they reach a safe distance, they will calm down reform, and try again.
Weapon effectiveness - Who doesn't love a good battle scene in a movie? Swords and axes hacking through armor with ease, in a Icelandic Saga-esque orgy of violence. Really though, if it was that easy to hack through armor would people even wear it? What's the point of carrying 90 pounds of crap if bjorn turbo-nord can axe you like he was slicing bread. Chain mail can stop most sword slices, and some stabbing. Plate armor might as well be impervious to most edged weapons. There are primary sources out there that describe what it looked like for 2 real, honest to god knights to go at it with sword and shield. Most blows just bounced of. These fights could seriously last until both men were too tired to continue. My point is, calm down with the whole cleaving people in twain bit. Armor actually should do the job it was made to do.
Fatigue - It's a universal rule throughout every army across the world and through time, everyone is tired. The TES world has certain things that we don't have in real life, fatigue potions for example. This will allow your TES armies to go just that bit farther when doing manual labor, marching, etc. However it is not a replacement for rest. Yes I know in the LOTR rings the orcs ran everywhere and never got tired. This is not LOTR, and you cannot do that. Nothing annoys other Rpers more than seeing a post saying that you've taken your army at a dead sprint, across difficult ground, through the woods and over a river to have them attack up a hill. People can't do that. Even if they could they would be in no shape for the grueling physical demands of battle.
Arms of Service
Cavalry - First off, for this guide, and in reference to what I'm going to talk about, Horses are exactly like people (see golden rule). They get scared, they panic, they can be tired hungry and thirsty. Just because your knight isn't tired from riding around all day, doesn't mean that poor horse isn't. He's been carrying your fat, lazy armored ass through hill and dale.
While men can be trained to ignore fear and charge into a mass of men, horses are smarter than us it seems, because they tend to not do that as much. I won't get into the specifics of a cavalry charge (if you want though, I suggest John Keegan's Face of Battle. His study of what actually happens in a charge is an eye opening read) but just know that horses wont really jump headlong into pikes, spears, or other generally pointy bits. Lances work because the point is so far ahead of the animal you can spear someone before the horse comes to it's senses. There are usually four possible outcomes to a normal cavalry charge. I have them in order from most likely to nigh improbable.
1) the infantry gets scared and just runs the hell away. 2) The infantry stands, and the horses go around. 3) The infantry, through negligence or accident has a gap in their lines that the cavalry exploits, which usually then leads to outcome 1, or 4) a horse gets killed, collapses into the line, and then leads to outcome 3 then 1.
*exception* There are special kinds of horses called Destriers that have been trained to ignore the pointy bits. These things are basically Clydesdale sized pit bulls, they bite, kick and run people down. They will charge headlong into a pile of infantry. These animals are, however very expensive. Think of them as the Mack trucks of the battlefield. present but in limited numbers, ideally only the rich knights, or lords should have Destriers. Due to the downright mean temperament trained into these horses, they are impossible to ride around for most normal trips. Battle only. Expect to have a spare horse to ride to town, unless you want that mean bastard to start biting guards and trampling children.
Artillery - Right away you should know most artillery does not work like in the movies. Explosions are stupid. Those trebuchets, onagers, catapults, ballistas, or even cannon if you're a redguard will all do the same thing. Giant stones bounce in a straight line. (god forgive me for using a movie to prove a point) Remember in the movie the Patriot, where mel gibson and heath ledger (rip) are watching the battle from a house. The cannon ball bounces around, taking of legs and heads and stuff? That's a surprisingly good depiction of how things work. Imagine you were five years old again, throwing rocks at a bunch of GI Joes. You knock over a couple in line one behind the other. On water, it's the same thing. Stones or iron balls shot at a low angle will skip across the surface, things at high angles will simply sink.
Navy - Naval battles are slow, painfully slow compared to land battles. They also usually have fairly simple tactics. This is a necessity because most ships are driven by wind. If you turn this way and that and dodge around, you'll usually spill the wind from your sails and be dead in the water until your crew can readjust. Also, ships are surprisingly difficult to sink. Almost everything on an old wooden ship will float. The usual outcome of a naval battle is that the ship is either captured or burns. At the battle of Trafalgar, one of the greatest naval battles of all time, only one ship actually sunk. The rest were, you guessed it, captured or burned.
Now onto fire. Fire is a ships worst enemy. They are basically giant floating matchboxes. Ships can catch fire with surprising ease. The ropes to the rigging are tarred, most planking is filled with tar and hemp fibers to make it waterproof. These things will burn if you look at them wrong. Very, very dangerous stuff.
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ADDITIONS
Types of equipment
Pikes
I've noticed that Pikes seem to be popping up as more and more popular in battle Rps. They are simple and very effective. The clashing of two Phalanxes or pike blocks (I know the difference, but for this guide I'll use the term interchangeably) is a horrid and violent affair. Now, there are two styles of Pike fighting: Push and Point. They are exactly what it sounds like. Now I wont go into a detailed description of the effectiveness of pikes on different units, but just keep this in mind, the pike keeps the enemy far away, and as long as the enemy doesn't break into the formation, they can't hurt the pikemen.
Push style = An excellent account of what really happens when two pike blocks come together and hold their nerve can be found in the description of the Battle of Langside. Pike heads get caught in flesh, clothing, and armor, pushed down into the ground or thrust up into the air. Once the points became immobile, The pike blocks ended up "pushing each other to and fro with their spears." According to my sources , pike fighting, while extremely dangerous, was not very fatal. Men received ghastly wounds, but most survived. The real massacre began when one side or the other broke.
Point style = Less common than Push style is Point. This involves actual fencing with pikes. In period accounts of the English Civil War, one reads examples of the front few ranks becoming disabled, their pikes broken, dropped or stuck. These men then usually drew short swords and rapiers and went about a ghastly hand to hand fight on their knees while the two pike blocks pushed overhead. They cut pike shafts, tried to pull the enemies away, and generally caused problems. (God help me, this makes two times) But, for those of you who don't like reading, an excellent depiction of pike fighting can be seen in the end of the Spanish movie Alatriste with Viggo Mortenson. It's on you tube, and shows the true horror of what the Swiss called "Bad war".
Pike blocks and phalanxes do have a very serious weakness, they cannot operate on rough terrain. In a formation that requires unity to survive, crossing a stream, walking through woods or climbing a fence might as well be a death sentence in the face of the enemy. Loose groups of men cannot and will not be able to defend themselves with a pike, it's all or nothing.
Arrows
Alright, now get ready. I'm going to express my own opinion about the effectiveness of missiles against armor. This is up there as being controversial as whether or not "Feudalism" is a real thing or not. Everyone who wants to send hate mail, please PM me. OK? Everyone clear on the rules?
In general, arrows are a very effective weapon. On the battlefield they can wound, disable and kill knights, soldiers and horses. However, unless at close range and using specially Bodkin tipped arrows, one cannot penetrate armor. (oh god, here comes the hate mail) Arrows are light weapons, and usually fired at an arc. At long ranges, the momentum is spent and it does not have the force to break chain mail or plate. At close ranges, they can cut through chain mail with ease (remember the bodkins) and sometimes can pierce plate. There are medieval accounts of mailed knights being literally pincushion with arrows, but sustaining no wounds. Most of the French dead at Agincourt who died from arrows received those wounds in the joints of the armor, where there was only simple mail, at close range.
Now, on top of that, different arrow heads have different purposes. You give everyone bodkin arrows, expect a lot of wounds, but few deaths. You give everyone broad heads, you'll wreak havoc on the infantry, but the Knights will soak up arrow fire like a sponge and keep coming.
Unlike in Oblivion, it's rather difficult to carry around 300 arrows on your person. Even with a quiver archers will most likely be limited to between 15 and 30 arrows. Like in real battles, you will be forced to scramble around, back and forth to the baggage carts to retrieve more.
As for flaming arrows. I know they look awesome in movies, but no. They don't work in real life. The rag attached to the end makes an otherwise precise weapon imbalanced, the speed of it flying through the air is usually enough to put out the flame mid flight too. I don't care what you saw in gladiator or Total war, real life doesn't work like that. If anyone can dig up PRIMARY sources that talk about the effective use of flaming arrows, I'll change my story. Outside of that, flaming arrows, like explosions = stupid.
Swords
I think this area is pretty much common sense. I'll only comment on a few things I think are underrepresented. First off, swords, like every thing else in life have varying levels of quality. A knights hand crafted sword, fitted to his height, weight, balance and fighting style will be more robust than a normal foot soldiers. If said knight rides up to said foot soldier, there I a chance that that PBI's sword will shatter. Swords are not axes, crowbars, hammers, or any other kind of tool. They are swords. You use one to cut firewood, to open a lock, or anything else it's not made to do, it will break. Block with the edge, it will chip. Use it too much, or if the sword is too old, it could snap. Get the point? (haHA! Punny!)
Battlefield confusion
As the name says, a battlefield is very confusing. There are a number of factors that come into play which cause problems. Noise and smoke are the two biggest. Noise, is rather obvious and wont be discussed. Smoke however can come from a number of different sources. Ever driven down a dirt road in a car or on a bike? You know that trail of dust kicked up? Imagine that coming from the feet of ten or twenty thousand guys. Unless it rained the day before a battle, your men will probably kick up at least some dirt. If you're in a desert, or in the middle of a dry spell, expect that dust to become a fog. This can cause men to be confused, to attack allies (Green on green) charge when they shouldn't or retreat if they're winning. Yes I know it'll hurt your cause if you portray this part in an RP. However, if you go about it in a mature fashion, it brings a ton of interest and character to the RP.
Screens
In games like Rome: Total war or Cossacks, you're given a top down perspective of the battle. That's not what you would see in real life. Try this out, just to get a taste. Open up one of the Total war games, go to options and change your perspective to the thing called general cam. Now play a skirmish. Hard isn't it? Not having an all seeing eye complicates things a great deal.
Hand in hand with this part on perspective is something called a screen, almost unheard of in almost every battle RP I've ever played, from TES through world war 2 (sigh, I miss the old DoD Forum RPs). A screen is where you place a line of skirmishers, cavalry, whatever in front of your men. Those skirmishers kick up dust, the horsemen even more so. The enemy only sees who's in front, and it's very hard to determine the amount of men one is facing. Again, it takes a mature Rper to pretend you can't see something in someone else's post. Yea we know your opponent is massing on your left, but does your character know that? Not likely. Not likely unless you use�
Scouts
How else will you know what is going on in front of you or around you if you don't send out scouts. Usually mounted and on good horses, these men are the eyes of your army. Without them sending back information, how will you general know what's in front of him. Imagine that war is a huge, expensive game of blind man's bluff. Your scouts would be the hands you have stretched in front of you to keep you from running into a tree.
Moving through a line of men
Unlike in videogames, this maneuver is actually extremely difficult one to pull off in real life. Say you have some skirmishers out front. Enemy cavalry is menacing, and the skirmishers pull back. Where are they going to go? You'd better have a gap in your lines to let them through, otherwise they'll force their way through your men and create gaps. Now, go to the cavalry section and read what happens when there are gaps in your line. it's the same thing for retreating men. The bad thing about retreating men is they'll probably be freaking out, and claw their own way through your line. On a battle field, panic spreads like chickenpox in kindergarten. Better to mqke room for those pqniced men rather thqn hqve them fight their way through.
The push
This one is simple physics. The more men you have one behind another, the greater force and momentum is present. Like the Thebans at Leuctra, and the French army during the Napoleanic period, a huge mass of men will push aside a thin line. If you have five hundred men in a three deep line, and the enemy had five hundred men in a five wide column of a hundred rows, That column will put a significant dent in your line because for each man fighting there's a hundred pushing on his back. This becomes especially important for Pike blocks (See push style) The French used this simple tactic to dominate all of Europe and beyond. The only way the British were able to defeat the great columns were by stopping them with musketry before they reached the thin red line.
Prolonged fighting
sometimes battles lasted all day, and into the next. Fighting is difficult and tiring, after extended hacking and stabbing, the poor bloody infantry would get tired. There were and will be lulls in the fighting. It's entirely possible for the men to remain behind their shields, catching their breath and staring at the enemy a mere two or three feet away. Sporadic and unplanned breaks have happened. After a brief rest, or once an officer sees the men not doing their job, fighting may flare up again. (they are on the clock after all�) Hardly would make a good fight scene in LOTR or Alexander, but it happens. The longer a unit is engaged in prolonged fighting the less likely it will be to attack or advance. The physical and mental stress of fighting wears down ones willpower (the real kind not the skills kind).
By: Gerald Duval
So you think you can RP- The brutally honest take on how to rp by Illusionary Nothing
This Guide is pretty blunt (painfully so, I'm told). Here are some links to other really useful guides which you might prefer. All three guides, (mine, Half Tooth's, and Allerleiraugh's) hopefully work well together, and between all of them I think everything is covered.
Allerleiraugh's Newbie Guide
Guide Posting by half tooth
Gerald Duval's Abrasive Guide to Battle Rps
Right guys, I don't profess to know everything about RPing, but I know enough to bring you this little tidbit of ABSOLUTELY VITAL INFORMATION! It's all the common sense stuff which nobody seems to listen to. So listen up this time, please.
Here is how it goes. RPing is writing. It is, it can't be denied. If you don't like writing, or can't be bothered to put into it, then for God's sake don't ruin it for everyone else. Only post when you are sure it is good. If people don't enjoy your posts, then you are not a Good RPer.
That being said, let's get into the nitty-gritty (wonderful word�) of all this jazz.
First off: Making your Character (feel free to build one alongside this�)
Right, building your character sheet is vitally important. Everything must be filled in fully. I would advise not making your character sheet too complicated, but there are several different headings you should take into account.
The most important of these are:
Name: This is where you put your character's name (self-explanatory, I know.)
Race: This is where you put your char's race. (again, duh�)
Age: This is where you put your character age. IMPORTANT NOTE: If your char has a ridiculously high age (e.g. an elf�) I would advise adding what age they appear to be, otherwise people will think your char is the King of Wrinkle-town. Also, ages any larger than 400 (already massively high!) are just being silly.
Birthsign: Add a birthsign. (for the love of god, don't make up your own�)
STOP RIGHT THERE!
If for any of these categories you would have put 'Unknown' it is not too late to change your ways! Understand that that is the height of stupidity. Your character sheet is not for other people's characters. It is for other people, and for you, so that they know who they are dealing with. Putting ridiculously vague stuff on there is redundant.
Whether or not your char, or anyone else, doesn't know your char's age, the players all should. If there is a particular reason you are withholding such information, then only put what they appear to be, and perhaps reveal their actual age at a later date.
Your character should know his name, or at least have a given one, and if he can't work out his race or birthsign, I'll be amazed, on account of all the bonuses and the distinctive appearances. As for their gender� I don't even want to get into that.
Continuing on, the other essential categories are:
Class: These can be custom, but if you call it Ninja, then you don't deserve to RP. End of story. A nice add on for Class is Class Description, which allows a nice bit of background for your class and fleshes out your sheet.
If your character does not fit a particular class, I would suggest either putting a multiple class that covers it, (scholar/thief) making up your own, or else substituting class entirely with class description, to give an idea of what they are capable of. (You know, writing what they are good at and their style of fighting.working...) Also, past professions might be a good choice- Ex-Soldier, that sort of thing. Or even their occupation or hobby- Artist or Maid.
Skills: Keep it reasonable. Certainly no more than seven skills from the oblivion set, and ten from the morrowind one. There was a reason they only allowed you so many skill slots. And that reason is BALANCE. Too many skills make you too powerful.
Also, I wouldn't take skills from all three different specialisations (Combat, Stealth, Magic for those who knows�), because it seems unlikely that someone would be able to study all three easily. Also, there are skills, normal, everyday sort of skills, other than those you find in the games. Perhaps substitute one or two from the game with these, or add one or two onto the end. But it has to fit the class.
General Appearance: As in, what your char looks like. Put it all in (not clothing, but physical appearance) Other categories such as Height, Build, Eyes, Skin and Hair Colour help flesh out the appearance and make your char sheet easier to navigate, but they should not stand alone. General Appearance is the biggie.
Clothing/Armour: Don't be unrealistic with this, and once again, feel free to go into detail. Detail is good. Everybody likes detail. Detail detail detail�
Weapons: Right, don't go too powerful with these, or someone will skin you alive. Legendary items are, as a general rule, off-limits, or they are if you're with anyone sensible. Also, the itty bitty bosmer mage cannot wield the massive warhammer. It would probably rip his arms off to try.
Biography/History: Your character's history. No heroes of Kvatch or Nerevarines here if it can be helped, mm'kay? These aren't necessary, but they are nice. Don't right essays for them, just give the basic overview.
IMPORTANT: Keep your char sheet updated as time moves on! And also, don't deviate from it. Whatever you write, that's how your character is. If you RP it differently, then you essentially lied to a whole thread of people, and also proved yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt a bad RPer.
Now we move on to DORKS AND THEIR CHARS
Rule Number 1: Don't give your character a dorky name or nickname. By dorky, I actually mean cool. Listen to me when I say this: YOU LOOK LIKE A FOOL IF YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME IS BLOODSTORM, RAGE, NIGHTSTALKER, GHOST, THE PLANNER or any other stupid names. Nobody is going to name your character such stupid things. Why would they? It sounds completely dorky. Names should be real. Look in your favourite books, look at characters of your race in the game, or even find a random generator if needs be, but come up with something reasonable.
However, as was pointed out by The-Nord, there are exceptions to this rule (Argonians with names such as City-Swimmer, Nords where their last name is rather a description of them- think Elsie God-Hater...)
So Rule Number 1 actually equals: Cool names make for dorky RPers.
Rule Number 2: Uber is not necessarily bad. However, there is virtually NOBODY who can actually pull it off. It is very difficult to pull off a powerful character, since they cannot grow and develop, and your natural instinct is to show off and act all amazing. Frankly, there are only two or three RPers I can think of who can actually handle it.
So Rule Number 2 actually equals: only noobs uber, and it will get you kicked.
Rule Number 3: The more boring/normal your character seems, the cooler they are. Armourers, Blacksmiths, Seamstresses, Farmers� these are the guys everyone wants to hear about turning into heroes. Heroes don't turn into anything. They're already heroes. For them, killing bandits and saving the world is no big deal. It's the normal people, the ones who have to learn, that make it interesting.
So Rule Number 3 actually equals: Exciting Heroes are boring to read about.
Rule Number 4: Not every char is super-beautiful/stunningly gorgeous/muscular/handsome/ whatever else you might try. That's just a stupid, desperate attempt to attract characters of the opposite sex. I'll go into more detail about that later.
But Rule Number 4: It is okay to play normal people. Mm'kay?
Rule Number 5: No Ninjas. Very few people can RP ninjas properly, and ninja's are more or less impossible to play in a balanced manner (e.g. without breaking rule number 2). However, an experienced and skilled RPer, with in-depth knowledge of ninjas could manage to RP a ninja properly, but ninjas have a terrible name from the many many bad characters that have been made over time (and nary a good one...) Unless you have a really good name on these boards, I wouldn't advise trying one.
I would also advise against assassin characters, or at least characters which spend all of their time going on killing rampages. Nobody kills that much, and frankly it's pretty boring, when other things could be going on, that you just run around stabbing everything in sight.
Characters with anti-social tendencies also tend to get in the way of interaction between players, and thus you joining in with the RP. I know, the aloof and cold warrior is fun, but if he doesn't say anything he gets really boring really fast. Only the most skilled of RPers should try and take on such challenges.
Listen up to this, it'll make your chars more interesting- INDIVIDUALITY
Unique characters are good. I don't mean with special powers or races, although those can help. I mean in terms of personality and habit, or even a little played class that everyone knows about. Make your char special! Perhaps they hyper-ventilate when faced with enemies, or like singing bawdy songs whenever they enter an inn. Maybe they are deathly afraid of women, or have a lisp. Perhaps they dye their hair a different colour every day- I don't know, be creative! Anything that makes your character stand out, while at the same time being like a real person. (serial killing set-aside, once again.)
UBERING AND CHARACTER CONTROLLING: Brothers from the land of stupid.
You'll find these rules in pretty much every RP you ever join. They are there for a reason. Basically, this means you don't start out with (or suddenly find) powerful weapons or armour, or other such items, and you can't take on an entire army of enemies single-handed.
It also means you can't summon an entire army out of thin air. It's just a bad idea, and it ruins gameplay for everyone else. Remember what I said about boring characters being better? Stick with it.
Then there is character controlling. This means you cannot force another character to do something, RP that character, or cause any physical damage to them that their player does not first approve. Ways to make sure you don't do anything like that are to PM a character's player before engaging in a fight, or making a post in such a way as you make the attack but leave the result open. Short Example:
"Hrothgar bellowed in pain as his arm was slashed open. Transferring his blade painfully from his right hand to his left, he attacked again, careful not to slip in his own blood. He swung his blade up and around his opponent's defences, but the attack, while strong, was clumsy� if his enemy noticed it, then it would be easily deflected."
This post makes it possible for the other player to decide the outcome of the attack, because you have not written the result- whether or not the attack worked. In this post, I have decided that I don't really want Hrothgar to have a large chance at succeeding, since he was injured by the other player's post, thus I mention that he is clumsy since he's using the blade in his other hand. If I had wanted him to succeed, I would have made sure that the post said he expected it to succeed, or that it was well-aimed or some such. But the idea is, that the other player still has the right to decide whether or not his character is injured.
NOTE: battles to the death in RPs between players are generally a bad idea. Before you engage in a player-fight, you should always decide who is going to die, or when they are going to stop.
I hope you get the general idea of all this.
Vampires and Werewolves Or ubering to no purpose.
Vampires and werewolves are naturally powerful creatures. Naturally UBER creatures, I should say. There is very little point in RPing one unless it is an RP specifically for them, or there is a good reason plot-wise for them being in such a way. Otherwise, it i just a lame excuse to be powerful, or 'look cool' (See 'Dorks and their Chars' to get the general idea of what I think of trying to look cool...)
Also, there are only so many vampires who don't drink human blood, and so many 'special' werewolves that can change at will and won't harm people that anyone can take. Listen to me when I say this: IT DOESN'T WORK. Everyone does this. By the time there are ten or twelve with virtually the same story in one thread, it gets boring. Not only are vampires and werewolves naturally powerful, they are also VERY ANTI-SOCIAL characters to play. The whole 'special vampire/werewolf' thing? It's just boring, overdone, and yet another excuse to have a powerful character with none of the set-backs.
So don't play them unless you have a cast-iron reason, and the skill to go with it.
Right, and now we enter the realms of ROMANCE vs BANGING (I know that sounds crude, but this is literally how I see it in RPs at the moment.)
The rules on this are quite simple. There are some elements for good romantic rping, and there are some elements for bad ones.
I'll give you the bad news first.
CHARACTERS DO NOT FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! Can I just say that this is possibly the most boring take on romance I have ever seen.
The romances that are worth reading about (and are realistic!) are the ones that take time and work. That means they might fight. That means they might not even like each other at first. But most definitely, it's better for them to be close friends before they move into something else.
People who immediately fall in love, and start proclaiming their undying love for each other, and take every opportunity for their chars to sleep with each other are just gross. Okay? An RP romance should be beautiful (or at least funny�) to read about. It is not a chance for you to sleep around through your character. Nobody wants to know about the sex. It's the lead up to the relationship, the things that bring these people together, that's important.
Also, consider relationships which don't work out, or at least don't work at first. In real life, not every man you meet is going to be your soulmate (and vice versa�), so why should it be any different in RPs? And also, just because someone else's char is deeply infatuated with yours is by no means a reason for your char to drop all and sudden love them too. If they didn't before, chances are they won't until the other does something particularly extraordinary.
And try to remember that beautiful people are not always what attract a mate� it would be nice if, for once, a romance started because two people were compatible, rather than because they wanted to bang each other. Seriously, average and ugly people find love too, not just the beauties.
Here is a section on cross-gender RPing (something I don't do much of) taken directly from HK-47, RPing God. So listen up.
HOW TO POST
First off, detail is everything. People will tell you that in RPing quality is better than quantity. That is true, but not in such a clear-cut way. The only real way to ensure a quality post is to add lots of detail, and that means a long post.
My advice to you is to describe everything! Let your mind run wild! Post everything your character sees, smells, tastes, feels, touches and says. Add in small, over-looked movements and twitches, describe things that particularly strike your character, and add in what they are thinking, or perhaps how their past relates to now. Describe their state of mind, that sort of thing. There is nothing too small to include in your post.
It is vital that you understand that POSTS ARE MORE THAN DIALOGUE. Dialogue on it's own is boring. To have a good post, you must add their thoughts and feelings, how they react to what other people are saying and how their mind processes any information they have been given.
Then you must remember something called CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. This is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT things about RPing. This means that your character grows, changes, and learns new things with time. Events will change your character: it is inevitable. But it's important that you understand that characters do not develop overnight.
Learning a new skill will take a good amount of time: changes in personality will take even longer. Even if your character makes a conscious decision to change, remember it doesn't happen that easily. It is a fundamentally difficult thing to do to change who you are, no matter what events might have done to you. Change happens, but slowly, painfully slowly. You have to make sure that people can easily follow the progress of your character, perhaps even guess where it is going to go, or try to.
Leaving clues in your writing for future plans, vague hints at what is to come in your character's emotional life, or hints as to their past, can be fun to read and speculate about.
Also: when you are writing, it is VITAL that you don't post the points of damage your weapon/spells are doing. Rather, describe how powerful it is by how tired it makes the mage, but how strongly the warrior attacks, etc.
Example of how NOT to do it:
"Hrothgar cast Fireball at his enemy, causing 2 points of fire damage, and then followed up with a swing from Poisonblade, causing 2 points of poison damage for 3 seconds..."
^Boring. Post LIKE THIS:
"It barely cost Hrothgar any magicka to flick a fireball at his opponent. Though the spell was not powerful, he was sure it would pack a good sting. Drawing his poisoned blade, he attacked fiercely. Though the poison was weak, enough consecutive attacks might cause real damage..."
Or something like that. Got it?
Another important part of posting is spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and spacing. If you have difficulty with spelling and grammar, for whatever reason, then consider checking it first in Word or some such before posting.
Dialogue is always preceded by and finished with quotation marks. A short example:
“Hello. Read the Black Horse Courier lately? I hear the emperor was assassinated,” said Average Jo as he smoked his pipe.
Commas (,) separate sentences up, and full-stops (.) - periods to some- end them. These are the most basic of punctuation, but I hope you get them at least. There are also question marks (?), exclamation marks (!) and many more.
Vary your vocabulary. In layman's terms, use lots of different words. The synonym function in Word could easily help you out. But even as I say that, don't go too out of your way. There are some perfectly common words that will often suite your needs just fine.
And now, spacing. As I have done here, so you should do. Whenever someone else is speaking in dialogue, or the topic of your writing changes: e.g. Before you were talking about what your character could see, and then you started talking about what he could smell- START A NEW PARAGRAPH. Hit enter. In fact, for RPing, it will probably do you better to hit enter twice, and leave one line of space between each paragraph, thus making the divisions even more obvious. It's really hard to read long blocks of text. Separating them eliminates this problem.
Key: In most RPs, you'll find the following things.
Thoughts are in Italics�
"Speech tend to be in quotation marks,"
And telepathy/mental communication is in Bold.
It can vary per RP, but this is the generally accepted rule, I think.
And finally, I leave you with this: everything I've just said isn't necessarily right. Beautiful characters do add something to RPs, heroes are needed every now and then, assassins can be cool and sometimes characters never learn and never change.
Just make sure that, whatever your character is like, you write about everything it does, and have a jolly good time doing it. These rules, all this advice: what it all comes down to is that I am trying to teach you how best to enjoy yourself in RPs, and for others to enjoy you being there too.
I'm going to add in some quotes of various posts I think were excellent examples of good posts in RPs.
And then I'll go and soak my aching fingers, and wonder why I cared enough to write all of this lark. Love y'all.
And a good example of a fight sequence can be found here.
Right, well, that's all I've got for now, kids. But for the rest of this thread, if people could give feedback and/or add other posts I might have missed or not known about that are good examples of RPing, feel free to put them up.
� And the irony of me doing all this is that it'll be buried by tomorrow, and the people it's aimed at won't bother to search. Can't say I didn't try.
EDIT: Thanks go to The-Nord, Lyncanthropic_Nerevar, FC4 and Elgen for their input as to how to better this.
Thanks also go to HK for his clarifying points, and for his section on Cross-gender RPing, and also to Otfee, who convinced me to clarify on the ninja-point.
----------------------
This Guide is pretty blunt (painfully so, I'm told). Here are some links to other really useful guides which you might prefer. All three guides, (mine, Half Tooth's, and Allerleiraugh's) hopefully work well together, and between all of them I think everything is covered.
Allerleiraugh's Newbie Guide
Guide Posting by half tooth
Gerald Duval's Abrasive Guide to Battle Rps
Right guys, I don't profess to know everything about RPing, but I know enough to bring you this little tidbit of ABSOLUTELY VITAL INFORMATION! It's all the common sense stuff which nobody seems to listen to. So listen up this time, please.
Here is how it goes. RPing is writing. It is, it can't be denied. If you don't like writing, or can't be bothered to put into it, then for God's sake don't ruin it for everyone else. Only post when you are sure it is good. If people don't enjoy your posts, then you are not a Good RPer.
That being said, let's get into the nitty-gritty (wonderful word�) of all this jazz.
First off: Making your Character (feel free to build one alongside this�)
Right, building your character sheet is vitally important. Everything must be filled in fully. I would advise not making your character sheet too complicated, but there are several different headings you should take into account.
The most important of these are:
Name: This is where you put your character's name (self-explanatory, I know.)
Race: This is where you put your char's race. (again, duh�)
Age: This is where you put your character age. IMPORTANT NOTE: If your char has a ridiculously high age (e.g. an elf�) I would advise adding what age they appear to be, otherwise people will think your char is the King of Wrinkle-town. Also, ages any larger than 400 (already massively high!) are just being silly.
Birthsign: Add a birthsign. (for the love of god, don't make up your own�)
STOP RIGHT THERE!
If for any of these categories you would have put 'Unknown' it is not too late to change your ways! Understand that that is the height of stupidity. Your character sheet is not for other people's characters. It is for other people, and for you, so that they know who they are dealing with. Putting ridiculously vague stuff on there is redundant.
Whether or not your char, or anyone else, doesn't know your char's age, the players all should. If there is a particular reason you are withholding such information, then only put what they appear to be, and perhaps reveal their actual age at a later date.
Your character should know his name, or at least have a given one, and if he can't work out his race or birthsign, I'll be amazed, on account of all the bonuses and the distinctive appearances. As for their gender� I don't even want to get into that.
Continuing on, the other essential categories are:
Class: These can be custom, but if you call it Ninja, then you don't deserve to RP. End of story. A nice add on for Class is Class Description, which allows a nice bit of background for your class and fleshes out your sheet.
If your character does not fit a particular class, I would suggest either putting a multiple class that covers it, (scholar/thief) making up your own, or else substituting class entirely with class description, to give an idea of what they are capable of. (You know, writing what they are good at and their style of fighting.working...) Also, past professions might be a good choice- Ex-Soldier, that sort of thing. Or even their occupation or hobby- Artist or Maid.
Skills: Keep it reasonable. Certainly no more than seven skills from the oblivion set, and ten from the morrowind one. There was a reason they only allowed you so many skill slots. And that reason is BALANCE. Too many skills make you too powerful.
Also, I wouldn't take skills from all three different specialisations (Combat, Stealth, Magic for those who knows�), because it seems unlikely that someone would be able to study all three easily. Also, there are skills, normal, everyday sort of skills, other than those you find in the games. Perhaps substitute one or two from the game with these, or add one or two onto the end. But it has to fit the class.
General Appearance: As in, what your char looks like. Put it all in (not clothing, but physical appearance) Other categories such as Height, Build, Eyes, Skin and Hair Colour help flesh out the appearance and make your char sheet easier to navigate, but they should not stand alone. General Appearance is the biggie.
Clothing/Armour: Don't be unrealistic with this, and once again, feel free to go into detail. Detail is good. Everybody likes detail. Detail detail detail�
Weapons: Right, don't go too powerful with these, or someone will skin you alive. Legendary items are, as a general rule, off-limits, or they are if you're with anyone sensible. Also, the itty bitty bosmer mage cannot wield the massive warhammer. It would probably rip his arms off to try.
Biography/History: Your character's history. No heroes of Kvatch or Nerevarines here if it can be helped, mm'kay? These aren't necessary, but they are nice. Don't right essays for them, just give the basic overview.
IMPORTANT: Keep your char sheet updated as time moves on! And also, don't deviate from it. Whatever you write, that's how your character is. If you RP it differently, then you essentially lied to a whole thread of people, and also proved yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt a bad RPer.
Now we move on to DORKS AND THEIR CHARS
Rule Number 1: Don't give your character a dorky name or nickname. By dorky, I actually mean cool. Listen to me when I say this: YOU LOOK LIKE A FOOL IF YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME IS BLOODSTORM, RAGE, NIGHTSTALKER, GHOST, THE PLANNER or any other stupid names. Nobody is going to name your character such stupid things. Why would they? It sounds completely dorky. Names should be real. Look in your favourite books, look at characters of your race in the game, or even find a random generator if needs be, but come up with something reasonable.
However, as was pointed out by The-Nord, there are exceptions to this rule (Argonians with names such as City-Swimmer, Nords where their last name is rather a description of them- think Elsie God-Hater...)
So Rule Number 1 actually equals: Cool names make for dorky RPers.
Rule Number 2: Uber is not necessarily bad. However, there is virtually NOBODY who can actually pull it off. It is very difficult to pull off a powerful character, since they cannot grow and develop, and your natural instinct is to show off and act all amazing. Frankly, there are only two or three RPers I can think of who can actually handle it.
So Rule Number 2 actually equals: only noobs uber, and it will get you kicked.
Rule Number 3: The more boring/normal your character seems, the cooler they are. Armourers, Blacksmiths, Seamstresses, Farmers� these are the guys everyone wants to hear about turning into heroes. Heroes don't turn into anything. They're already heroes. For them, killing bandits and saving the world is no big deal. It's the normal people, the ones who have to learn, that make it interesting.
So Rule Number 3 actually equals: Exciting Heroes are boring to read about.
Rule Number 4: Not every char is super-beautiful/stunningly gorgeous/muscular/handsome/ whatever else you might try. That's just a stupid, desperate attempt to attract characters of the opposite sex. I'll go into more detail about that later.
But Rule Number 4: It is okay to play normal people. Mm'kay?
Rule Number 5: No Ninjas. Very few people can RP ninjas properly, and ninja's are more or less impossible to play in a balanced manner (e.g. without breaking rule number 2). However, an experienced and skilled RPer, with in-depth knowledge of ninjas could manage to RP a ninja properly, but ninjas have a terrible name from the many many bad characters that have been made over time (and nary a good one...
) Unless you have a really good name on these boards, I wouldn't advise trying one.I would also advise against assassin characters, or at least characters which spend all of their time going on killing rampages. Nobody kills that much, and frankly it's pretty boring, when other things could be going on, that you just run around stabbing everything in sight.
Characters with anti-social tendencies also tend to get in the way of interaction between players, and thus you joining in with the RP. I know, the aloof and cold warrior is fun, but if he doesn't say anything he gets really boring really fast. Only the most skilled of RPers should try and take on such challenges.
Listen up to this, it'll make your chars more interesting- INDIVIDUALITY
Unique characters are good. I don't mean with special powers or races, although those can help. I mean in terms of personality and habit, or even a little played class that everyone knows about. Make your char special! Perhaps they hyper-ventilate when faced with enemies, or like singing bawdy songs whenever they enter an inn. Maybe they are deathly afraid of women, or have a lisp. Perhaps they dye their hair a different colour every day- I don't know, be creative! Anything that makes your character stand out, while at the same time being like a real person. (serial killing set-aside, once again.)
UBERING AND CHARACTER CONTROLLING: Brothers from the land of stupid.
You'll find these rules in pretty much every RP you ever join. They are there for a reason. Basically, this means you don't start out with (or suddenly find) powerful weapons or armour, or other such items, and you can't take on an entire army of enemies single-handed.
It also means you can't summon an entire army out of thin air. It's just a bad idea, and it ruins gameplay for everyone else. Remember what I said about boring characters being better? Stick with it.
Then there is character controlling. This means you cannot force another character to do something, RP that character, or cause any physical damage to them that their player does not first approve. Ways to make sure you don't do anything like that are to PM a character's player before engaging in a fight, or making a post in such a way as you make the attack but leave the result open. Short Example:
"Hrothgar bellowed in pain as his arm was slashed open. Transferring his blade painfully from his right hand to his left, he attacked again, careful not to slip in his own blood. He swung his blade up and around his opponent's defences, but the attack, while strong, was clumsy� if his enemy noticed it, then it would be easily deflected."
This post makes it possible for the other player to decide the outcome of the attack, because you have not written the result- whether or not the attack worked. In this post, I have decided that I don't really want Hrothgar to have a large chance at succeeding, since he was injured by the other player's post, thus I mention that he is clumsy since he's using the blade in his other hand. If I had wanted him to succeed, I would have made sure that the post said he expected it to succeed, or that it was well-aimed or some such. But the idea is, that the other player still has the right to decide whether or not his character is injured.
NOTE: battles to the death in RPs between players are generally a bad idea. Before you engage in a player-fight, you should always decide who is going to die, or when they are going to stop.
I hope you get the general idea of all this.
Vampires and Werewolves Or ubering to no purpose.
Vampires and werewolves are naturally powerful creatures. Naturally UBER creatures, I should say. There is very little point in RPing one unless it is an RP specifically for them, or there is a good reason plot-wise for them being in such a way. Otherwise, it i just a lame excuse to be powerful, or 'look cool' (See 'Dorks and their Chars' to get the general idea of what I think of trying to look cool...)
Also, there are only so many vampires who don't drink human blood, and so many 'special' werewolves that can change at will and won't harm people that anyone can take. Listen to me when I say this: IT DOESN'T WORK. Everyone does this. By the time there are ten or twelve with virtually the same story in one thread, it gets boring. Not only are vampires and werewolves naturally powerful, they are also VERY ANTI-SOCIAL characters to play. The whole 'special vampire/werewolf' thing? It's just boring, overdone, and yet another excuse to have a powerful character with none of the set-backs.
So don't play them unless you have a cast-iron reason, and the skill to go with it.
Right, and now we enter the realms of ROMANCE vs BANGING (I know that sounds crude, but this is literally how I see it in RPs at the moment.)
The rules on this are quite simple. There are some elements for good romantic rping, and there are some elements for bad ones.
I'll give you the bad news first.
CHARACTERS DO NOT FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! Can I just say that this is possibly the most boring take on romance I have ever seen.
The romances that are worth reading about (and are realistic!) are the ones that take time and work. That means they might fight. That means they might not even like each other at first. But most definitely, it's better for them to be close friends before they move into something else.
People who immediately fall in love, and start proclaiming their undying love for each other, and take every opportunity for their chars to sleep with each other are just gross. Okay? An RP romance should be beautiful (or at least funny�) to read about. It is not a chance for you to sleep around through your character. Nobody wants to know about the sex. It's the lead up to the relationship, the things that bring these people together, that's important.
Also, consider relationships which don't work out, or at least don't work at first. In real life, not every man you meet is going to be your soulmate (and vice versa�), so why should it be any different in RPs? And also, just because someone else's char is deeply infatuated with yours is by no means a reason for your char to drop all and sudden love them too. If they didn't before, chances are they won't until the other does something particularly extraordinary.
And try to remember that beautiful people are not always what attract a mate� it would be nice if, for once, a romance started because two people were compatible, rather than because they wanted to bang each other. Seriously, average and ugly people find love too, not just the beauties.
Here is a section on cross-gender RPing (something I don't do much of) taken directly from HK-47, RPing God. So listen up.
HK-47 said:
Cross-gender roleplaying Specifically; d00ds who RP chicks
Okay guys, you all know what I'm talking about. You're creating a female character in your head, so why wouldn't you want her to be graciously endowed with DD cups and a perfect sassy attitude? Truth is, guys who create characters like that disgust me. If you are going to roleplay a female character, have some respect for women. Don't throw your character at men or sleep around just because the prospect of a woman who would do that appeals to your nether regions. Keep your brain in your head.
Now I am a dood, and I am a teenager (19), so I feel the same hormones all you do, and I will admit to occasionally making a female character do something I wish a woman would do rather than something a woman would do. I won't profess to understand them, and I don't expect you to, but the key word here is not realism, it's Respect and Realism ().
So basically put, guys, don't roleplay a female character who struts her stuff around, has the chest of Dolly Parton and the face of whatever you think is hot with buns of steel the size of watermelons and wear virtually nothing at all. It's disrespectful and wrong, and nobody likes an RP character like that.
Okay guys, you all know what I'm talking about. You're creating a female character in your head, so why wouldn't you want her to be graciously endowed with DD cups and a perfect sassy attitude? Truth is, guys who create characters like that disgust me. If you are going to roleplay a female character, have some respect for women. Don't throw your character at men or sleep around just because the prospect of a woman who would do that appeals to your nether regions. Keep your brain in your head.
Now I am a dood, and I am a teenager (19), so I feel the same hormones all you do, and I will admit to occasionally making a female character do something I wish a woman would do rather than something a woman would do. I won't profess to understand them, and I don't expect you to, but the key word here is not realism, it's Respect and Realism ().
So basically put, guys, don't roleplay a female character who struts her stuff around, has the chest of Dolly Parton and the face of whatever you think is hot with buns of steel the size of watermelons and wear virtually nothing at all. It's disrespectful and wrong, and nobody likes an RP character like that.
HOW TO POST
First off, detail is everything. People will tell you that in RPing quality is better than quantity. That is true, but not in such a clear-cut way. The only real way to ensure a quality post is to add lots of detail, and that means a long post.
My advice to you is to describe everything! Let your mind run wild! Post everything your character sees, smells, tastes, feels, touches and says. Add in small, over-looked movements and twitches, describe things that particularly strike your character, and add in what they are thinking, or perhaps how their past relates to now. Describe their state of mind, that sort of thing. There is nothing too small to include in your post.
It is vital that you understand that POSTS ARE MORE THAN DIALOGUE. Dialogue on it's own is boring. To have a good post, you must add their thoughts and feelings, how they react to what other people are saying and how their mind processes any information they have been given.
Then you must remember something called CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. This is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT things about RPing. This means that your character grows, changes, and learns new things with time. Events will change your character: it is inevitable. But it's important that you understand that characters do not develop overnight.
Learning a new skill will take a good amount of time: changes in personality will take even longer. Even if your character makes a conscious decision to change, remember it doesn't happen that easily. It is a fundamentally difficult thing to do to change who you are, no matter what events might have done to you. Change happens, but slowly, painfully slowly. You have to make sure that people can easily follow the progress of your character, perhaps even guess where it is going to go, or try to.
Leaving clues in your writing for future plans, vague hints at what is to come in your character's emotional life, or hints as to their past, can be fun to read and speculate about.
Also: when you are writing, it is VITAL that you don't post the points of damage your weapon/spells are doing. Rather, describe how powerful it is by how tired it makes the mage, but how strongly the warrior attacks, etc.
Example of how NOT to do it:
"Hrothgar cast Fireball at his enemy, causing 2 points of fire damage, and then followed up with a swing from Poisonblade, causing 2 points of poison damage for 3 seconds..."
^Boring. Post LIKE THIS:
"It barely cost Hrothgar any magicka to flick a fireball at his opponent. Though the spell was not powerful, he was sure it would pack a good sting. Drawing his poisoned blade, he attacked fiercely. Though the poison was weak, enough consecutive attacks might cause real damage..."
Or something like that. Got it?
Another important part of posting is spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and spacing. If you have difficulty with spelling and grammar, for whatever reason, then consider checking it first in Word or some such before posting.
Dialogue is always preceded by and finished with quotation marks. A short example:
“Hello. Read the Black Horse Courier lately? I hear the emperor was assassinated,” said Average Jo as he smoked his pipe.
Commas (,) separate sentences up, and full-stops (.) - periods to some- end them. These are the most basic of punctuation, but I hope you get them at least. There are also question marks (?), exclamation marks (!) and many more.
Vary your vocabulary. In layman's terms, use lots of different words. The synonym function in Word could easily help you out. But even as I say that, don't go too out of your way. There are some perfectly common words that will often suite your needs just fine.
And now, spacing. As I have done here, so you should do. Whenever someone else is speaking in dialogue, or the topic of your writing changes: e.g. Before you were talking about what your character could see, and then you started talking about what he could smell- START A NEW PARAGRAPH. Hit enter. In fact, for RPing, it will probably do you better to hit enter twice, and leave one line of space between each paragraph, thus making the divisions even more obvious. It's really hard to read long blocks of text. Separating them eliminates this problem.
Key: In most RPs, you'll find the following things.
Thoughts are in Italics�
"Speech tend to be in quotation marks,"
And telepathy/mental communication is in Bold.
It can vary per RP, but this is the generally accepted rule, I think.
And finally, I leave you with this: everything I've just said isn't necessarily right. Beautiful characters do add something to RPs, heroes are needed every now and then, assassins can be cool and sometimes characters never learn and never change.
Just make sure that, whatever your character is like, you write about everything it does, and have a jolly good time doing it. These rules, all this advice: what it all comes down to is that I am trying to teach you how best to enjoy yourself in RPs, and for others to enjoy you being there too.
I'm going to add in some quotes of various posts I think were excellent examples of good posts in RPs.
And then I'll go and soak my aching fingers, and wonder why I cared enough to write all of this lark.
Love y'all.Argente said:
Trevoire listened very quietly and intently as she spoke of his past, and present. She knew what he was, what his gift was, and he knew what gave you that gift as well. His hand slowly dropped towards his sword hilt yet he prevented himself from drawing it.
You like her powers, don't you? You can have them all in just one stroke of your sword. Think of the power you'll have, think of your destiny.
He smiled the moment she finished her rather interesting speech about him. "We all hear the voice. Most of us, at least. I know that you too have the Darkness in your mind, for I know that not even the strongest illusionist can do what you just did."
Trevoire then turned his back to her and placed his glass on his desk, walking over to a painting and gripping the hilt of his sword even tighter. He could guess that she knows what he's up to and what he's about to do. Though it now only depends on the timing and how fast he can do it before his Knights come storming into the room. He had to plan his actions carefully, though since he has been doing this his whole life, it wasn't that hard.
The Darkness then quickly told him the plan.
He would walk back over to her, offering to refill her glass. The moment she would offer the glass to him he would simply draw his sword and disarm her. Killing her would be the least of his worries. He would then wipe the hilt of his weapon with a cloth and place in her corpse's hand. Then he would smack his face till it bled and be leaning his back against his desk calling for help. His Knights will come in and will find out that their Commander was only defending himself and simply be rid of her corpse. He would have a new Director and will be more powerful then before.
Trevoire's gaze held hers as he turned around, quickly removing the thought from his mind so that she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He then walked back towards his desk and leaned his hand against it.
"May I refill your glass, Andromeda?"
You like her powers, don't you? You can have them all in just one stroke of your sword. Think of the power you'll have, think of your destiny.
He smiled the moment she finished her rather interesting speech about him. "We all hear the voice. Most of us, at least. I know that you too have the Darkness in your mind, for I know that not even the strongest illusionist can do what you just did."
Trevoire then turned his back to her and placed his glass on his desk, walking over to a painting and gripping the hilt of his sword even tighter. He could guess that she knows what he's up to and what he's about to do. Though it now only depends on the timing and how fast he can do it before his Knights come storming into the room. He had to plan his actions carefully, though since he has been doing this his whole life, it wasn't that hard.
The Darkness then quickly told him the plan.
He would walk back over to her, offering to refill her glass. The moment she would offer the glass to him he would simply draw his sword and disarm her. Killing her would be the least of his worries. He would then wipe the hilt of his weapon with a cloth and place in her corpse's hand. Then he would smack his face till it bled and be leaning his back against his desk calling for help. His Knights will come in and will find out that their Commander was only defending himself and simply be rid of her corpse. He would have a new Director and will be more powerful then before.
Trevoire's gaze held hers as he turned around, quickly removing the thought from his mind so that she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He then walked back towards his desk and leaned his hand against it.
"May I refill your glass, Andromeda?"
DarkNova50 said:
Will felt something wrap itself around his hand, and squeeze. It was delicate, almost fragile, at least in his battle-scarred hand; he'd have recognized Kira's touch anywhere. With a determined look on his face, Will gently squeezed back, as he looked out over the two armies, preparing to engage each other. The ferocity of the Legion, coutered by the sheer dauntlessness of the allies of the Birthright Guild. Like two great waves, they would soon crash into each other, each hoping to overtake the other, and prevail.
The warrior within him longed to stand at the front of that wave...to carve a bloody swath through Marcus' and Myrva's forces. But that was not to be his role in this battle...his place was beside Kira, to fight alongside her. He looked to his right, at the young woman who was to be his wife...at the woman who would give birth to his child. In all the world, he could think of nobody who he would rather have beside him at such a time. His main concern was that she might come to harm in the coming battle, but he would do whatever it took to keep that from happening.
His glance drifted to Stephanie and Micheal, and he cursed inside his own head. He respected the two of them, and appreciated all that they had done for Kira in her time of need. But a battlefield was no place for them...especially the young Stephanie. Will had fought all his life...he knew what to expect in the near future. Was it fair for Stephanie to witness the horrors of a battle such as this? And how would Micheal fair?
Will put these thoughts aside, however. The time for doubts had long since passed. Now, on the eve of the Birthright Guild's greatest battle, the players had been set, and there was no going back. He gave one last glance to Kira, before reaching for his blade...his family's blade. He hoped their strength would see him through the coming conflict. He unsheathed his blade, and let the tip of the claymore rest idle in the dirt at his feet, as he awaited the inevitable.
The warrior within him longed to stand at the front of that wave...to carve a bloody swath through Marcus' and Myrva's forces. But that was not to be his role in this battle...his place was beside Kira, to fight alongside her. He looked to his right, at the young woman who was to be his wife...at the woman who would give birth to his child. In all the world, he could think of nobody who he would rather have beside him at such a time. His main concern was that she might come to harm in the coming battle, but he would do whatever it took to keep that from happening.
His glance drifted to Stephanie and Micheal, and he cursed inside his own head. He respected the two of them, and appreciated all that they had done for Kira in her time of need. But a battlefield was no place for them...especially the young Stephanie. Will had fought all his life...he knew what to expect in the near future. Was it fair for Stephanie to witness the horrors of a battle such as this? And how would Micheal fair?
Will put these thoughts aside, however. The time for doubts had long since passed. Now, on the eve of the Birthright Guild's greatest battle, the players had been set, and there was no going back. He gave one last glance to Kira, before reaching for his blade...his family's blade. He hoped their strength would see him through the coming conflict. He unsheathed his blade, and let the tip of the claymore rest idle in the dirt at his feet, as he awaited the inevitable.
FC4 said:
Vivian shut the door behind him, and Iris turned to face him instantly, not waiting a minute to begin the conversation. "Alright, spill it. You're different now. You move differently, you behave differently. You're shady, Vivian. You're not legal. What have you been doing?" Iris sat down in the chair, putting her feet up on the table, and raised her eyebrows at her brother. "Well?"
Vivian stood by the door for a moment, considering his words. If he told the truth, Iris would hate him forever. But if he told half-truths... "I.." Vivian began, stopped, and took a deep breath. He had lied before, to so many people of so many social positions, but for some reason, he found lying to Iris difficult. "I went searching for the women who killed Father."
Iris' face transformed into a gleeful, almost giddy expression. "I did the same thing! Though..." She stopped, and shrugged her shoulders sadly. "They were dead by the time I had found them." She sounded heartbroken about this fact. Even though they had murdered her father, Iris was not one to easily wish death upon others, not when she was in control of herself. She had hoped to convict those women, land them in jail, but never kill them.
The look on her face, seeing her so downhearted about a deed that he himself had committed, confused Vivian. He felt the urge to just tell her, just get it over with, but also thought of her reaction, and decided that she wasn't quite up for more saddening news.
Vivian stood by the door for a moment, considering his words. If he told the truth, Iris would hate him forever. But if he told half-truths... "I.." Vivian began, stopped, and took a deep breath. He had lied before, to so many people of so many social positions, but for some reason, he found lying to Iris difficult. "I went searching for the women who killed Father."
Iris' face transformed into a gleeful, almost giddy expression. "I did the same thing! Though..." She stopped, and shrugged her shoulders sadly. "They were dead by the time I had found them." She sounded heartbroken about this fact. Even though they had murdered her father, Iris was not one to easily wish death upon others, not when she was in control of herself. She had hoped to convict those women, land them in jail, but never kill them.
The look on her face, seeing her so downhearted about a deed that he himself had committed, confused Vivian. He felt the urge to just tell her, just get it over with, but also thought of her reaction, and decided that she wasn't quite up for more saddening news.
Uglius MaximusII said:
Vincent stepped out of the wooden house that he had called a home for the last 3 years. He looked out over Bravil and shuddered, the city was disgusting, filth and plague covered the city. An ill looking man stumbled past Vincent and he quickly cast his healing spirit. "Clense him." He muttered, the moaning spirit did so, the rattling of chains as he moved his body to cast the spell at the man rang out. Sending a shiver through Vincent.
The man stood up straight, he looked at his hands in awe, he looked behind him at Vincent and bowed, quickly running off to whatever destination it was that he was going to.
Vincent sighed and carried on walking, he was to meet a man named Kiera Knightfall.
The man stood up straight, he looked at his hands in awe, he looked behind him at Vincent and bowed, quickly running off to whatever destination it was that he was going to.
Vincent sighed and carried on walking, he was to meet a man named Kiera Knightfall.
HK-47 said:
Bravil. The unusual name worked its way around the woman's mind as she approached the city gates. Bravil. So different the city was to what she was used to seeing; used to living in. The city of Bravil was surrounded by stone walls, and judging by the houses that sat outside the walls, the woman quickly realized that the inside must be no better off. Muddy streets, a loud hubub of activity and foul language, and overall bad taste was what she expected to find based on the exterior of the city. A city like this wouldn't stand scrutiny in the Summerset Isles, but the woman guessed with good reason that the Altmer - so much more sophisticated and intelligent than these human swine - would not allow such a city to even exist in the Isles. More likely it would be blown to bits by a wizard or two, or it would be flooded or burned or perhaps the citizens would be striken with eternal invisibility, giving the city the reputation of a ghost town.
It was then with trepidation that Ari Larande crossed the bridge towards the city gate. As much as she might find the city distasteful, she would nevertheless have to enter it. I may not be High Elf, but I'm still Altmer. The young Imperial thought to herself as she approached. Ari had been born an orphan and raised among the Isles. Although she was very short compared to the High Elves, and her skin was a strange shade of pink rather than magnificently golden, and though her ears were unatractively round, Ari had the gift for magick, and she was raised an Altmer. Not an Imperial. She reached into her robe and clasped the rather opulent gem-incrusted amulet. It was marked with an emblem she knew was the emblem of the Red Diamond; a dragon enclosed in a diamond. But what significance it held eluded her.
Why would the Imperial crest be on the amulet that I've had since I was a baby? It was here at Bravil she hoped to find her answers. As distasteful as the city may seem, she knew that it was only among people who shared her blood, if not her culture, that she would find her answer. If it lays out there to be found. Ari had her doubts about whether or not this amulet wasn't some worthless piece of junk, even though she'd had it appraised by the best jeweler in all of Firsthold. The gems were real and flawless, and it was solid gold, but it wasn't monetary value that Ari was worried about. It was the only possible clue to her past, and what if it was just some trinket? A gift given to an orphan out of kindness?
It couldn't be so. It shouldn't be so. It wouldn't be so. Ari made up her mind, and she was going to make sure that she found her answers - and if that meant getting involved in this revolution, then so be it. First the Imperial City, now Bravil. I'll search every city if I must.
It was then with trepidation that Ari Larande crossed the bridge towards the city gate. As much as she might find the city distasteful, she would nevertheless have to enter it. I may not be High Elf, but I'm still Altmer. The young Imperial thought to herself as she approached. Ari had been born an orphan and raised among the Isles. Although she was very short compared to the High Elves, and her skin was a strange shade of pink rather than magnificently golden, and though her ears were unatractively round, Ari had the gift for magick, and she was raised an Altmer. Not an Imperial. She reached into her robe and clasped the rather opulent gem-incrusted amulet. It was marked with an emblem she knew was the emblem of the Red Diamond; a dragon enclosed in a diamond. But what significance it held eluded her.
Why would the Imperial crest be on the amulet that I've had since I was a baby? It was here at Bravil she hoped to find her answers. As distasteful as the city may seem, she knew that it was only among people who shared her blood, if not her culture, that she would find her answer. If it lays out there to be found. Ari had her doubts about whether or not this amulet wasn't some worthless piece of junk, even though she'd had it appraised by the best jeweler in all of Firsthold. The gems were real and flawless, and it was solid gold, but it wasn't monetary value that Ari was worried about. It was the only possible clue to her past, and what if it was just some trinket? A gift given to an orphan out of kindness?
It couldn't be so. It shouldn't be so. It wouldn't be so. Ari made up her mind, and she was going to make sure that she found her answers - and if that meant getting involved in this revolution, then so be it. First the Imperial City, now Bravil. I'll search every city if I must.
And a good example of a fight sequence can be found here.
Right, well, that's all I've got for now, kids. But for the rest of this thread, if people could give feedback and/or add other posts I might have missed or not known about that are good examples of RPing, feel free to put them up.
� And the irony of me doing all this is that it'll be buried by tomorrow, and the people it's aimed at won't bother to search. Can't say I didn't try.
EDIT: Thanks go to The-Nord, Lyncanthropic_Nerevar, FC4 and Elgen for their input as to how to better this.
Thanks also go to HK for his clarifying points, and for his section on Cross-gender RPing, and also to Otfee, who convinced me to clarify on the ninja-point.
By: Illusionary Nothing
